A Trainer's Blood Flows Within
by SpartaLazor
Summary: After leaving his friends in Orre, Trevor White ventures to Hoenn. All he wants in a nice, peaceful adventure to give him some time to think and try to conquer his amnesia. His new Pokemon seem much more insane than before, and Trevor has to put up with them and his companions Bella, May, and Brendan on their journey to conquer the Hoenn Pokemon League.
1. A New Beginning

I could smell the salty sea air as the boat sailed into the docks just outside of Littleroot Town. I admit that I felt a little guilty for abandoning my friends, David, Luna, Dawn, and Skyler right in the middle of Cipher's Shadow Pokemon invasion, but I need a fresh start. After all my memory was fragmented, with only a few memories in place. I woke up in Orre with amnesia. Not fun.

It had been a rough couple of days on the ocean, and I was rather glad when hit land. "All passengers may depart!" the captain of the boat called over the intercom. "We've arrived at Littleroot Town!"

"Finally," I muttered, throwing my gray denim jacket on over my black T-shirt. Hoenn was a tropic region, with warm weather most of the time, but I still decided to wear my jacket for the time being. I might need it for something other than looks. After leaving Orre, I had selected a whole new wardrobe.

Most of the other passengers on the ship were other starting trainers, hoping to get to Birch's lab before all the Pokemon were gone. Personally, I too was hoping for the same thing, although if all were taken, I brought some money so I could afford some Pokeballs to try to capture my own.

"Excuse me," a girl said, stopping me. She had average length brown hair and green eyes. I estimated her to be roughly fifteen, my age. She wore a pink jacket, and dark blue skinny jeans. There was a large white traveling bag over her shoulder. "Do you know where Birch's lab is?"

I shook my head. "Not really. But Littleroot is a small town, it can't be that hard to find, can it?" Walking down the ramp that connected the small boat to the old wooden docks, I glanced around, and sighed. A fresh start. That's what I needed.

"Can you help me find it?" the girl asked, following me down the plank. "I don't want to get lost."

"I guess," I replied, shrugging. "That's where I'm going."

She suddenly smiled. "Hey! I'm a new trainer too!" She held her hand out, smiling widening even more. "I'm Isabella Hines. Most of my friends call me Bella."

"I'm Trevor," I said, shaking her hand. "Trevor White. And I'm not just starting out, I've had experience with training before." We began walking toward the town, looking around for anyplace that would have a map.

"Well, I'm just starting out. Do you think you could give me some tips?" Bella asked, smiled still plastered to her pale face.

I thought for a minute. "Do you know the type advantages?" She nodded. "Do you know how to catch a Pokemon?" She nodded again. "Do you know how to battle?" She nodded for a third time. "You've pretty much got all you need to know."

"Yeah, I guess so," Bella agreed. We went through out the town, still trying to find that lab. No surprise, we had gotten lost. "So, what was your first time like?" She questioned.

"What?"

"You're first time getting a Pokemon."

"Oh..." I thought about that. I honestly couldn't remember, since I had lost almost all of my memories. I could've loved the moment, or could've hated. So I went with the best option. "It was a great feeling," I replied. "You gain a friend when you get a Pokemon. Sometimes you need to let it get used to you first, though."

Bella nodded. "I can understand that. Most people don't realize that when someone catches a Pokemon, that we steal it from their home."

I nodded, and we saw a building with a line of teenagers and ten-year olds ready to get their first Pokemon. Most had their hearts set on becoming a powerful Pokemon Master, but I guess that only one or two of them would succeed.

"Looks like we got here a little bit too late," I muttered, folding my arms. I knew deep down inside of me that the chances were low of getting a Pokemon now, since the lab probably couldn't supply even a fourth of the line with one. And the line wasn't even that long.

"Oh," Bella said, and I could hear the dissappointment in her voice. She had had her heart set on this.

Sighing, I reached into my pocket, and pulled out the money I had stashed on me. "Here, this isn't alot," I said, offering it to her, "but it should be enough to get seven or eight Pokeballs. You can try to catch your own."

Her smile instantly returned, but then faded slightly. "I can't take your money. I didn't even meet you until today. It wouldn't be right."

I shook my head. "It's fine. Go ahead, I insist."

Bella's face lit up. "Thanks!" She took the bills from my hand, and shoved them into her jacket pocket. "Someday, we'll meet up again, and I'll return the favor!" She took off running toward the Pokemart in Littleroot, which had been a new addition.

"Why did I do that?" I mumbled to myself, getting in line at the very back. Right now, the line ended a few feet from the lab door, so I figured that it wouldn't have been a long wait.

Most of the people here at the back of the line had their phones out, texting their friends or updating their social media pages or something else to pass the time. I inwardnly groaned, realizing that if it were to be a long wait, I was going to get very bored.

Forty-five minutes later, the last person in the line, me, reached the desk where Professor Birch stood. He looked older than he did on TV and where ever else I had seen him.

"Well, young man, you're in luck," Birch told me as he set a Pokeball down on the desk. "We just happen to have one Pokemon left." He pointed to some papers, "You'll need to fill those out for you Trainer Card."

I plopped down in the chair sitting in front of the desk. It squeaked as I sat, probably tired from the weight of all the other newbie trainers that had sat in it before me. "What Pokemon is it?" I asked, as I begin filling out the forms, most of which were for a medical record.

"A female Torchic," Birch replied. "Our Mudkips and Treekos were wiped out in record time," he contined, sitting in his chair behind the desk, and typing something into his computer. He sighed. "Most think that with them, it'll be easier for them to beat Roxanne in Rustburo."

"Yeah," I mumbled, turning to the form that required my signature to say that the Hoenn Pokemon League was not responsible for my actions if I went apeshit and started killing people with my Pokemon. With a slightly amused smile, I signed. The next form was to confirm that the signature on the previous page was actually mine.

I slid the papers over to Birch when I was done, and he began keying the nessesary information into the computer. "This'll take a few minutes, until then get yourself aquainted with you Torchic. Give it a name if you like." He sounded tired and worn out.

"You seem stressed," I told him, picking up the red and white sphere. "Is there something wrong?"

He nodded. "It's my son, Brendan. My wife and I got a divorce five years ago, since she said that my research was taking up most of our time as a family. She won custody of Brendan. I haven't seen him since then, until today. He just came here, got a Treeko and left. We never said a word to each other. Though It made me feel slightly guilty, with the way that he looked at me."

I'll admit, I was at a loss on what to tell him, since I had never gone through anything similar to this. If he had amnesia, then he and I would be on the same level. I couldn't help him with wife problems.

So, I did my best with advice. "Why don't you go talk to your ex, maybe you can patch things up. Be apologetic, but not enough to make you seem desperate. Maybe she'll give you a second chance."

Birch scratched his head as he thought about it. "Do you really think that'll work?"

"It might," I replied, tossing the Torchic's Pokeball back and forth in my hands. "But if it doesn't, then don't try to fight against her. Be understanding and cooperative. At least, that's what I would do."

The Professor nodded. "You're right," he said. "I'll talk to her later tonight." He began rapidly inputting the medical history into the system when he stopped and looked up at me.

"Under the 'Mental Problems' section, you wrote down that you have amnesia. Is that true?" He glared at me, staring me dead in the eyes.

"More or less," I replied quickly. "But it's nothing major. Eventually all will come back to me."

"I see," Birch said, returning his eyes to his screen. "You know Professor Krane in Orre has had a bit of experience with amnesia patients. You want me to send him a messege. He really could help."

I shook my head. "No thanks," I responded. "Right now, all I need is to head out toward's Rustburo City. My goal is to be there by the end of the week."

"If that's really what you want," Birch said, typing the last bit of info. I knew that he was going to tell Krane anyway. "Well, then," he walked over to a machine and a second later, it spat out a rectangular lamenated card. "Mr. Trevor White, you're offically a Pokemon trainer," he said, handing ther card to me. "You'll need to get registered for the Pokemon League in Oldale, and you're all set."

I nodded. "Thanks Professor." I took the card from him and put it away in my top left jacket pocket. "I'm guessing that there's no more Pokedexes?"

Birch shook his head. "Sorry, I only had two. One I promised to the daughter of Petalburg's Gym Leader, and my son took the other." He paused. "If you're to ever meet up with Brendan, can you tell him that I want to talk to him? It's important to me," he asked, staring at his shoes as if he were ashamed to ask.

"Sure," I answered. "Oldale Town is to the north of here, right? I don't want to get lost."

"Straight north," he replied. "And there's quite a bit of signs that should guide you on your way."

I thanked the Professor again, and left. It took a few minutes to find the entrance to route 101.

"Okay then," I said, tossing up my new Torchic's Pokeball. "Come on out."

In a flash of red light, the little orange chick Pokemon appeared, taking in her surroundings. "Where am I?" she asked, looking up at me. "Who are you?"

Oh, right. Maybe now would be a good time to point out that for some screwed up reason, I can understand Pokemon. My amnesia prevented me from remembering exactly how this happened, but I had my money on the fact that it connected in some way to the reason that any trace of who I was never turned up anything helpful.

"I'm Trevor, your new Trainer," I greeted. "You and I will probably be traveling around for quite some time, so we should at least get along. Do you have a name?"

"Nope."

"Then I shall call you...Flamo."

"Original, dude."

"I know."

And with that, we took our first steps into route 101. I"ll admit it, once you get to looking around at it, route 101 is much less than I expected. A couple of small ledges about my height, overgrown grass that concealed wild Pokemon inside of it, and a few new trainers trying to catch one.

"We'll need to get into some battles so you can get stronger," I told Flamo, looking down at the little fire chicken. "You'll have to be strong to face the Gym Leaders."

"I honestly don't care about battling," she said, fluffing some of her tail feathers with her beak. "But, I do it, as long as you feed me. Got any food?"

Groaning, I shook my head. "Not really. And I don't have any money to buy food. So it looks like we'll need to win a few battles." Looking around Route 101, I saw that various trainers were engaged in battles, and usually were surrounded by a bunch of other people cheering them on. Behind them, a few trainers were looking for someone to challenge, in an attempt to get this fame for themselves.

"Well, I'm kinda hungry," Flamo informed me, staring up at me, "So if you do put into battle, don't pit me against a brutal monster. I'd prefer something like a Igglybuff. Those things suck."

I shrugged. "No problem. Although, when was the last time you ate? If you're hungry there's some berries nearby."

Flamo shook her head."I don't want any of that crap. I want real food. Beef!" she shouted, jumping into the air. "That is the food of gods!"

Releasing a breath, I cursed Arceus. I swear that guy kept sticking me with the most insane Pokemon on the planet. In my time, I've been the trainer of a perverted Darumaka and...okay maybe that was it. But still, this meat craving Torchic can't be normal.

"You!" a trainer shouted, pointing at me. "I challenge you to a battle!" He was roughly sixteen, with dark blonde hair and hazel eyes. He had on a leather jacket, with khaki shorts. "You have to accept my challenge!"

Folding my arms, I walked over, standing about three yards in front of him. "Allright, I accept. What are the rules?"

The teen smiled. "One on one, first to be knocked out loses. You know, standard rules." He folded his arms, and smirked. "If you don't know that, then you must be a noob."

Rolling my eyes I shrugged. "Well, I thought I'd ask, so we could predetermine some rules," I replied. "But let's just get it on, shall we?"

"We shall," he said, taking a Pokeball out of his jacket pocket. "Go! Aby!" A yellow pokemon appeared, floating in the air. An Abra. Great.

"Go for it, Flamo!" I ordered, and she ran onto the field, muttering something about beef.

The teen appeared to be stifling a laugh, glancing around at the crowd that had gathered to observe the battle, and to make their bets. That was one of the best parts of journeying. No parents or adults. You could, almost, do what you wanted. "You take the first move," he said, folding his hands behind his back.

I nodded, planning out a strategy. Abras were Psychic-Types, meaning that they mostly used special attacks. Flamo knew Growl and Scratch, so Growl would almost be useless, since it lowered attack. Or was it defense? I couldn't remember. Scratch would have to do. "Flamo use Scratch!"

Screaming savage profanites, which I can't repeat, my Torchic ran at the Abra. She lept up into the air, lashing out with her beak and slicing the Abra. It barely even flinced at the attack. Maybe it was stronger than I had anticipated...

My opponet chuckled, shaking his head sadly. "That was pathetic. You're going to have to do far better to win. But, I won't let you! Aby, use Shadow Ball!"

Before Flamo could react, the ball composed of shadows slammed into her. Crying out in pain, she was sent flying back several feet, and hit the ground with a thud. There was silence as Flamo stood up, and staggered back over. "That really hurt."

"Please, hang in there. Just a little longer, We might win," I said, trying to spark some confidence into myself. That didn't go over so well.

"I'm impressed," the teen commented, sticking his hands into his pockets. "No other Pokemon, aside from some Poochyena, have survived a single one of Aby's attacks. Maybe it's beginner's luck."

I shrugged. "Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn't. Flamo, use Scratch again!" I ordered, and Flamo weakly slashed at the Abra, hitting it right in the arm. She then promptly fell to the ground, knocked out, using the last of her energy to use Scratch.

The teen smirked as he saw that he had won. "It looks like it was just luck," he said smugly, returning his Pokemon to its ball. "Perhaps, someday, we'll meet again," he said, and turned away, "and I'll crush you again."

The onlookers patted him on the back and congradulated him for his win, and a few shot a glance back at me, and snickered.

I sighed, returning Flamo to her ball and shoving it into my pocket. All I wanted was a nice, peaceful journey to think about life, and to try to get rid of this damn amnesia. I'd had some flashbacks, mainly just blurrs of light and sound, which told me next to nothing. As time had gone on, the images had cleared up, and they gave a clear image, but those had never helped much either.

Anyway, I began walking toward Oldale, just brushing by the other trainers, most of whom had already caught another Pokemon, either a Zigzagoon, Poochyena, or Wurmple, since those were all that nested on route 101.

"I'll need to catch another Pokemon," I mused to myself, ignoring some giggles from a group of girls. None on the route were anything that I would plan to use in the future, so I kept on walking.

Anger welled up inside of me, not because I lost, but because of the way people were acting about it. That teen was an arrogant jerk and-

"Hey kid!"

"Speak of the devil," I muttered, turning to face the teen. "What?"

"Don't feel to hard on yourself," he said smirking. "It's not becuase I'm stronger, it's because you're weak."

Some younger kid tapped him on the shoulder. "I think you mixed those up."

"Nah," the teen replied snobbishly. "I had them they way they're supposed to be." There was an eruption of laughter.

I sighed and folded my arms across my chest, displaying an annoyed and unamused face. Turning on heel, I went back to walking, trying to drown out the laughter that I could still hear.

Note to self: Get Flamo trained so I can kick that guy's ass.

Reaching the top of a hill, I looked out as far as I could see to get a lay of the land. Oldale Town was just at the bottom, and route 102 went west, eventually leading to another small town, which I assumed was Petalburg. I couldn't see much beyond that, so I began the trek into town.

Oldale Town was relatively a small town, larger than Littleroot, but smaller than Petalburg. There was a Pokemon Center, and a Pokemart, along side various scattered houses. Route 103 extended northward, but from what I could see, it appeared to be a dead end. It'd be a place I'd have to explore, and I could use it for training Flamo.

Naturally, the first place I went was the Pokemon Center, to get Flamo rested up and ready for training. Hopefully, we could beat some other trainers so we could get some money to buy Pokeballs and some food.

The automatic glass door slid open, and I stepped inside. The building was packed full of trainers, most of the new, and the occasional expert coming to prey upon the weak. And, not surprisingly, there was a line for the counter.

Rubbing my temples, I got into the back of the line, and waited. And waited. And waited. The lobby was roaring with chatting, laughing, squealing, and just about every other sound that trainers make. I could feel the headache coming on.

Finally, after twenty minutes of standing in line, it was my turn. The nurse on duty looked exhausted, and had pulled a chair over so she could sit instead of standing. Her eyes had bugs under them, indicating lack of sleep, or something like that.

"Welcome to the Pokemon Center," she mumbled without much enthusiasm. "How can I help you today?"

I placed Flamo's Pokeball on the counter. "I need her healed, and I would like a room for the night."

Sighing, the nurse took the Pokeball and put in on a tray, and slid it into the machine. "I'm afraid that we're out of rooms," she informed me, resting her head on her hand. "You'll have to find somewhere else to stay."

I groaned. "Is there a hotel in town?"

Shaking her head, the nurse returned Flamo's Pokeball to me. "Nope. It was torn down a few years back because Petalburg opened one up. A more better one."

"Thanks anyway," I said, ignoring her bad gammar use. As I exited the door, I immediantly let Flamo out. "How are you feeling?"

Flamo looked herself over. "Well, I don't hurt anymore, but I'm still hungry. When are we eating?"

"Not sure," I answered. "Since we have no money, and no where to stay, then we out in the middle of the night."

"Please tell me that things will get better," Flamo pleaded. "I don't want to have to sleep in the cold tonight. I wish we could build a fire."

"You're a Fire-Type," I noted. "Perhaps we can. We'd need some kindling, and some larger logs..."

"Heeey Trevor!" a cheery voice called out. It was none other than Bella, the girl I gave all my money to. Trust me, I might be regretting that decision.

I waved as she ran up. "So, did you catch a Pokemon?" I asked, and then I noticed the Pokeball clipped to her bag strap. "I see you did."

Her smile widened, just as it had before. "Yeah, it's a Poochyena. I named it Sora."

"Kingdom Hearts?"

"Yep."

I guestured down at my Torchic. "This is Flamo," I introduced. "Fortunately the last Pokemon at Professor Birch's lab."

"Aw, she's so cute!" Bella exclaimed, reaching down and picking her up.

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know," Flamo said, as Bella put her back down. The Torchic prompty jumped up onto a rock, and tried to get Bella's attention by what appeared to be some strange form of...dancing? I can't describe it. "She might buy me beef!"

I rolled my eyes. "So, Bella, We were about to set up camp," I said. "The Pokemon Center is full, so we have nowhere to go. You can stay with us if you like."

She smiled, but shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, but my friend May got a room, and she's sharing it with me. I'll introduce her to you tomorrow." She waved and took off toward the Pokemon.

I sighed and plopped to the ground.

"You like her," Flamo commented. "That's why you wanted her to stay with us, right?"

"No," I said, elicting one laugh. "But she might've had food."

"Oh right. I'm hungry."

The sun was setting, and I wanted to get an early start to Petalburg. The route would be less crowded, and there would be more uncaught Pokemon there. "Night, Flamo," I said, leaning back, using my balled up jacket as a pillow.

"Night," she muttered back, flopping down on the rock.

It took a few minutes, but soon I was asleep...

* * *

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"I think you know exactly what I'm taking about."

"Ah, yeah. Sorry. It's hard to know who you're talking about when they don't exsist."

"But why did you do it?"

"He knew too much. More than any human should. And the opportunity was there. I wasn't going to let it pass by."

"Why not? It was all over anyway."

"This happened over a year ago. Just let it go."

"But...What if he survived?"

"...What?"

"It's possible. After all, that Charizard you want me to hunt down, if your suspisions are right, then there might have been a slight chance that he survived."

"...Listen, there's no possible chance that he's alive. Trust me, I would know."

"That's not what's a question though, is it?"


	2. Food, Brendan, Companions, Lotad, Mangas

"Wakeupwakeupwakeup!"

I cracked my eyes open, and saw that the sky was still pitch black and dotted with stars. Flamo was pecking my arm rapidly. "Five more minutes," I pleaded, pulling my jacket over my head.

"We're under attack!"

That woke me up. I jolted upright, head jerking around as I looked for the attackers. A few seconds later, I realized that there was no one around us. "Flamo," I said, slowly leaning back down. "It was probably a dream. Go back to sleep."

"No," she insisted. "It was a snack attack! And we don't have any food!"

Groaning, I rolled over and glared at her. "Yeah, I know. And it's three in the morning," I held up my wrist to so she could see my watch, "so I want to sleep. We'll see about food in the morning."

"But...I'm starving!" Flamo wailed throwing her head back and falling onto her back. "If I don't eat soon, I'll be forced to scavenge for...berries! Oh the horror!" She promptly burst into tears.

"Screw it," I said, standing up. "I'm already too awake to sleep. We'll try to find some night trainers to get some money. And, before you ask, yes, I'll get you some beef."

She instantly jumped up and stopped crying. "That's motivation. Let's do this."

I rolled my eyes as we set out to route 103. As we passed the Pokemon Center, I realized that I hadn't registered for the Hoenn Pokemon League yet. "Come on," I told Flamo. "This will only take a few minutes."

The inside was still crowded, but much more differently than last time. Trainers lay on the floor in sleeping bags, under blankets, on the couches, and one even brought an air matress.

The night shift nurse smiled and chuckled lightly when she saw my reaction to the scene. "It's like this every year," she said, as I approached the counter, careful to step over the bodies. Flamo just jumped over them.

"I didn't know you could sleep in here," I told her. "I need to sign up for the Pokemon League."

She nodded and reached under the counter, and a second later pulled out a clipboard. "Just fill this out and let me see your trainer card."

I removed the card from my pocket, and handed it to her. Then, I started on the paper work. It was mostly for making sure that I had parental permission, my age, my home region, I put Orre, since that's the only other place I remember being. After a few more pages of work, I clicked the pen, and handed the nurse the papers. She slid my card back to me.

"You're all set. The Ever Grande Conference is in a few months, so you should have plenty of time to get eight badges," the nurse informed me. "If not, then you'll have to wait until next year."

I nodded. "That shouldn't be a problem. I have a full confidence in myself and my Pokemon."

"Yeah," Flamo retorted. "But you and you Pokemon have empty bellies. Fight, get money, buy beef, let's go." She practically took off running to the door.

I shook my head sadly, but did so smiling. "I really wished I had know that I could sleep in here. Would've been better than sleeping on the ground."

The nurse shrugged. "It was more cramped here last year. And some how, the Hoenn Fire Marshall just so happened to waltz right in here. That was fun."

Chuckling, I followed Flamo out the door, "See ya around," I called to the nurse.

"Now, let's get some money to get beef!" Flamo exclaimed, and once again began running toward route 103.

"Geez, can't you take it easy?" I shouted, breaking into a run just to keep her in sight. "Walking works well."

Groaning, Flamo slowed down. "I'm starving. And we don't have food."

"We've been over this about six gazillion times," I reminded her, as we walked into route 103. It was almost exactly like route 101, but with different placements of the grass and the trees.

Kricketunes chirped, even though I was sure that they weren't native to Hoenn. Zubats flew over head, and the gentle splashing of the waves playing in the river. This was nature at its best.

"Stop," I ordered Flamo. "Listen."

She blinked, looking around for what she should be listening to. "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly," I said. "Nowadays, with all the cites and all that, just being able to hear nothing is a miracle."

Flamo scoffed. "If you like hearing nothing, then go inside of a Pokeball. That's always fun. Can't hear nothing, can't see nothing. Pure bliss."

I sighed. "Well, let's see about battling."

The route appeared to be empty, with only me and Flamo occupying it. In the middle of the night, that wouldn't be surprising. After a few minutes of wandering around, a human figure came into sight.

He was sitting around a campfire, writing something in a notebook. There was a Treeko asleep in a small tree nearby, making sure that it was well out of reach of the flames.

As I approached, I began to make out details of the figure. He was my age, white hair, with a green bandana running around his head. He had a red T-shirt on, and a pair of gym shorts, with his bag sitting just a few feet away, with other clothes poking out.

He glanced up at us, somehow noticing us. Shrugging to Flamo, we walked over. "Hi," I said. "We didn't think that there be anyone else out here but us." I held my hand out. "I'm Trevor White."

With a half-hearted smile, he shook my hand. "Brendan. Brendan Birch," he said, and guestured to the fire. "You can stay here for a while of you want. I was having a hard time sleeping, so I was about to take Treeko and do some training."

Birch? "Are you Professor Birch's son?" I asked, remembering my promise to the Professor.

His smile faded quickly. "Yeah, why?"

"He wanted me to find you and to tell you that he wanted to talk to you," I said. "He said it would be important to him."

Brendan scoffed. "Then it probably had to do with research," he muttered, stuffing the notebook into his bag. "I don't want to talk to him ever again."

I decided to let the topic drop, since it was quite a personal matter. "Well, Flamo needs to get some training done too," I told him. "Maybe we can battle them against each other, kill two birds with one stone."

Brendan shrugged and nodded, glad to be off the topic of his dad. "I guess we could. Treeko," he called his Pokemon, who glared over at him with some slight anger of being woken up. "Get prepared for battling."

Treeko huffed and jumped out of the tree, landing gracefully on his feet. He walked over and stood next to Brendan.

"We should probably get a little bit farther from the fire," Brendan commented, "I don't want Treeko to catch on fire."

"Agreed." We walked a few yards away, and we were ready. "Let's do it. You take the first move," I said.

"Treeko use Pound!" The grass Pokemon ran at Flamo with his fist raised and ready to strike.

"Dodge it!" I ordered. Flamo jumped to the side and Treeko's punch went wide, but he nailed her in the head with a follow through. She flipped over a couple of times as she flew back, but Flamo stood up and shook it off.

"Ember!" Flamo let loose a weak wave of embers scattering them as they flew through the air, and a few struck Treeko, but not enough to cause any major damage.

Brendan seemed to know that he was at a type disadvantage, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. "Treeko, use Absorb!"

Small glowing green spheres flew from Flamo's body and into Treeko's restoring a little bit of health.

"Ember!" Once more, the Torchic shot burning embers at Treeko.

"Dodge!" Treeko jumped out of the way, and the flaming cinders landed harmlessly on the cold grass, "Follow with Pound!"

"Ember when Treeko gets close enough!" I knew that it would be hard to avoid the ember at close range, but would it be enough to win the match? Flamo spat out more flames as Treeko neared her, but he took them like a man, and powered through them, slamming his fist into Flamo's face again.

"Not cool, dude," Flamo exclaimed as she came running back into the battlefield.

Treeko was panting, with several scorch marks on his body. Flamo was also gasping for breath, with a small bruise on her face. It was going to be close, that I knew.

"Treeko use Absorb!" The little grass gecko drained energy from my Torchic again, and she toppled to the ground, struggling to stand. "Now, Pound!"

"Same as last time," I ordered as Flamo managed to stand up. "Use Ember when it gets close."

Flamo fired her fire into Treeko's face when it was barely six inches from her, and Treeko's fist smashed into her face, sending her once again flying backwards. Both Pokemon were on the ground, neither making any attempt to stand up.

"Is this a tie?" Brendan asked, looking back and forth between the two Pokemon. "I think they're both out."

I nodded. "Yeah, it looks that way." I returned Flamo to her ball, and Brendan did the same to Treeko. "Good battle."

Brendan flashed a quick smile. "Thanks. You did pretty good yourself." He tossed Treeko's Pokeball back over to his bag, where it landed a few inches away. "Well, I'm hitting the sack," he stated, walking back over to his camp and grabbing a sleeping bag. "Feel free to hang out here if you want. I ain't got nothing that's worth stealing, so I trust you."

"I'll probably catch up on my sleep," I admitted, somewhat glad that Flamo was out of the way. "My Torchic woke me up like a half-hour ago."

"That sucks," Brendan said, climbing into his sleeping bag. "Treeko's the quiet type. He really doesn't make much noise. Kinda like a ninja."

"Yeah," I muttered, laying down on the ground and shutting my eyes. Minutes passed by. I cracked my eyes open, and sighed. I couldn't sleep. Try as I might, all I did was toss and turn on the ground. The boat I taken to get to Hoenn had hammocks to sleep in, and I had planned to get a room at the Pokemon Center instead of sleeping on the grass.

It wasn't too late to go back to the Pokemon Center. But, it would be better to get a headstart to Petalburg so I could get a room there, and hopefully some food. I groaned as my mind turned to the mere thought of something to eat. I hadn't had a bite since I landed in Hoenn.

Standing up, I headed back to Oldale Town, and got Torchic healed at the Center, and headed to route 102. It was traveled west of Oldale, and there were a couple of small ponds along the way. Tall grass stood clumped together in large patches all across the route. Fortunately, a few trainers were out, getting an early start this morning.

"I'm sure that we can beat at least one of them," I mused, reaching for Flamo's ball. "Then we can finally eat." Seconds later, the Tochic appeared at my side in a flash of red light.

She looked up at me, and blinked. "Please tell me that we'll be eating some food soon. I'm sick of hearing my stomach growl."

I shrugged. "All we have to do is win a battle or two, and we'll have some money," I told her, pointing at some of the trainers on route 102, who were storming through the tall grass searching for any wild Pokemon that would make a good team member. "Some look like those idiotic Bug-Type worshippers."

"Hey you!" a voice called out from behind us. "I want to battle!"

I turned around, and saw that it was one of those Bug-Type worshipers. He had a bug net in one hand, and a Pokeball in another. "Allright," I said. "Flamo front and center!" My Torchic jumped into position.

"Go Wurmple!" The kid sent out a Bug-Type, as expected. "Use String Shot!" he ordered his worm, not really caring about seeing who was to have the first move of the battle.

"Ember!" Flamo launched the flaming coals out at the Wurmple, incinerating the worm's fiber String Shot. The embers connected with the bug, and the power of the super-effective attack knocked it flat on its back, KO'd with a single hit.

"What!" the kid cried out, looking at his fallen Pokemon. "That's not possible! I just caught that thing!" Angrily, he tossed some money and stomped off.

Flamo began dashing around, gathering the bills in her beak. "Moneymoneymoneymoneymoney! Foodfoodfoodfoodfood!" She dumped them into a pile at my feet. "Letsgoletsgoletsgoletsgo!"

I spilt the money in half, saving some for supplies later. "There's a diner back in Oldale," I said, "I think they're open." By now, it was 5am, so some people were already up and at it, heading to work or something like that.

Flamo and I dashed back into town, heading for the building. It was a small, 50's style diner with a jukebox and checkered tiles.

I plopped down on a red barstool and propped my arms up on the counter. Flamo just climbed up me and jumped onto the countertop.

A waitress came over to me, fake smile crossing her face. "What can I get ya?" she asked, with an equally fake enthusiasm.

"Well, two plates of waffles," I said. "Is that good for you, Flamo?"

She nodded, and waitress went to get the order in. "Are these things that you call waffles made with beef?"

"Nope."

"Awww..."

"You'll still like them," I told her. "Just put alot of syrup on them."

"Well, okay. Does this syrup have beef in it?"

A person sat in on the stool to my right, and I looked up to see none other than Bella. "What's up?" she asked, once again her idiotic grin plastered to her face. "I never thought to see you here!" Another girl sat down beside her. "Meet May," Bella said, introducing her friend.

May had brown hair with blue eyes, a red jacket and biking shorts. "Hi," she greeted, giving a slight wave. "I've heard about you."

"Really?" I asked, as the waitress set down mine and Flamo's plates. The Torchic's eyes bulged in shock at the sight of the waffles, mainly since they were food, and she, literally, dove right in.

"Uh...yeah," May continued, staring at my Torchic's eating habits. Personally, I didn't want to look. "Bella hasn't shut up about that nice guy that gave her money."

"That's not true!" Bella protested. "I haven't said a word about him at all today!"

I smirked. "Well, it is only 5:15 in the morning."

Before any more could be said, Flamo burped loudly. "Them was good. But not as good as beef."

I blinked in surprised. "Wow, that was fast." I hadn't even touched my food yet. Shrugging, I cut into my waffles, shoving a forkfull into my mouth.

"Well, anyway," Bella continued, "May and I are traveling all across Hoenn together. We'll make an unstoppable team."

May laughed. "I doubt it. I'm really not that much into battling and all that. I've considered coordinating, though."

"Oh..." Bella's smile faded, but in a split second, she was back to her usual cheery self. "Well, then I can be the Hoenn Champion, and you can be the Top Coordinator, and we'll reach the top together!"

I another bite of my waffles, leaving me with half left. "So, either of you know any place to catch a good Pokemon?" I asked. "I'll need to get another if I want to beat Roxanne, since Flamo would be at a disadvantage." I paused. "Roxanne uses Rock-Types, right?"

May nodded. "Yeah. I'm beginning to think that the League chooses Gym Leaders based off of names nowadays, rather than skill."

Bella agreed. "I mean, we've got Brawly, Wattson, Roxanne, and Norman. Care to guess what types they use?"

I didn't care to guess. It was obvious.

"As for Pokemon," May went on, "I wouldn't know. Bella, maybe."

Shaking her head, Bella stood up. "Nope. This is all new to me. I just came here from Johto." She walked over to the jukebox and began flipping through the music. I went back to my breakfast, only to discover that I had a fourth left.

"Flamo..."

"I didn't *burp* eat it."

Sighing, I scarfed down the last of the food and paid the waitress. "Let's go," I said, and Flamo jumped off the counter, landing face first on the ground. She bounded back up.

"Where are you going?" Bella called out as she ran over. "I wanted to talk some more."

I was going to point out that if you wanted to talk with someone, you don't get up in the middle of the conversation and go to the jukebox. "I figured I'd get a headstart towards Petalburg," I said, pointing at the clock. "It's 5: 23, and I wanted to be there yesterday."

"Hey, that's where May and I are going," she said. "Maybe you could use some company?" She made one of those faces that your really couldn't say no to.

All I want to know, is why she wants to come with me.

"Sure, but we're leaving now," I told her, holding the door open for her. "As in, right this very moment."

"That's fine with me." She Bella turned to May, who was still sitting at the counter. "Come on, May. We're leaving for Petalburg City!"

"But we haven't even eaten yet!" May protested. "And I'm starving!"

Bella folded her arms across her chest and stood her ground. "So? we can get food when we get there."

May groaned and rolled her eyes, cursing under her breath. A few minutes later, the three of us were on route 102, making steady progress to Petalburg City, and hopefully my first Gym Badge in Hoenn.

Bella was leading the way with her Poochyena, Sora, at her heels. May and I were hanging back, with her Mudkip chatting away friendly with Flamo.

"So, why is she so..." I started, trying to think of a word.

"In to you?" May finished. "Personally, from the constant talking that she did about you yesterday, and now this, I think she likes you."

I smiled. "Wouldn't surprise me. I quite a charming person."

May giggled. "Yeah right. Just keep telling yourself that." After that, we began walking in silence. I evesdropped in on the Pokemon's conversation.

"...and that's why beef is awesome," Flamo concluded.

"But...that's a rather violent way to get food," May's Mudkip said. "Meat is murder. Why don't you eat berries?"

Flamo stared blankly at him. "Berries suck!" she yelled right into his face. "Have you have had beef?" He shook his head. "Then you'll never know the true food of kings!"

May smiled as she looked at the two Pokemon. "They're getting along nicely, aren't they?"

I shook my head, smiling. "If you only knew."

"Hey, what's that?" May asked, pointing to another Pokemon plodding along on the side of the path. She pulled out a device, and a screen slid out of the main red body. pressing a button, a picture of the Pokemon appeared on the screen. "It's a Lotad," May explained, reading the information.

"Aren't Pokedexes supposed to read the entries out loud?" I asked, noting that the dex hadn't made a single sound.

"Well, about that," May shrugged. "I messed with some of the settings, and now it's silent. I don't know how to fix it."

"It shouldn't be too hard to fix," I said. "Got a Pokeball with you I can have?"

Nodding, May reached into a pouch, and produced the one of the red and white spheres. "You gonna catch it?"

I nodded. "I'll try. Okay, Flamo, use Scratch on that Lotad!"

My Torchic rushed at the unsuspecting Lotad, and slashed him with her beak.

The Lotad's eyes widened in shock as he realized what was going on. "Whoa, bro! That's not cool! At least give me a heads up!" he complained. He stood around, waiting for the next attack.

I threw the Pokeball, hoping that the Lotad was weaker than I thought it was. The ball shook once. Bella, suddenly aware of what was going on, ran over to watch. The Pokeball shook again. Everyone held their breath. The ball shook a third time. We all crossed our fingers. And the ball clicked shut.

There was a simultaneous sigh of relief, and I went over to retrieve the new caught Pokemon. "I think I'll call him..." This was the hard part of being a trainer. You had to pick a name that would stick. "...this is hard."

I released the new caught Lotad from his ball, and he blinked as he looked around. "What happened? Where am I? Who are you?"

"Hi," I said. "I'm you're new trainer. Do you have a name?"

My Lotad nodded. "So I was captured in one of those human ball things? Cool beans. Beats sitting around here all day, watching my older brother bang all of the females."

I sighed. This was a reason understanding Pokemon was not always a good thing. You heard things you didn't really want to hear. "Yeah, Zen would've loved that story, what's your name?"

"Phillip. But just call me Phil."

I blinked. "Okay then, Phil. Let's go." I turned to go back to walking, but May and Bella were staring at me. "What?"

"Were you talking to your Lotad?" May asked, sharing her WTF look with Bella.

I shrugged. "Maybe. Sorta. Kinda...yeah."

"You can understand Pokemon?" Bella questioned, increduously. "That's awesome! How do you do it? Can you teach me?"

"Um...not right now. There's a complication," I said, slightly uncomfortable that one of my secrets had gotten out. And another was hanging in the balance.

"And that would be...?"

"I don't remember."

May blinked. "So, you pull off something that's nearly impossible, and you can't remember how you did it?"

"Pretty much. There's also a long story that goes along with that.

Bella stepped in. "Give him a break, May. He's special, you know."

"I'm just saying, something like that's got to have an explanation," she said. "Or he's hiding something."

I sighed. Might as well get it over with. "I have amneisa. There, I said it."

"I like beef," Flamo interjected. "There, I said that."

Once again, May and Bella shot each other the WFT looks. "And you were going to tell us this when?" Bella asked.

I thought about it. "Well, that depended. If we were going to stick with each other for longer than this short trip to Petalburg, which I suspect that we will, then...a week from next Septembuary."

"That's not a month," Bella stated.

May elbowed her. "That's the point." She turned back to me. "Well, at least we know now. If we can help, don't be afraid to ask."

"I won't." Phil was carrying Flamo and Mudkip on his water lily head, which reminded me a lot of Bark, my Herdier, who would always carry my Pokemon around from place to place.

"Well," I said. "I looks like we're here."

Petalburg City was far larger than Odale Town and Littleroot Town put together. There were large masses of buildings here and there, and the Pokemon Gym sat right in the middle of it all.

"Bella and I are heading to the Pokemon Center to get rooms," May informed me. "Are you coming?"

I shook my head. "I'm going to the Pokemon Mart to get some supplies. Either of you need anything?"

Bella nodded and reached into her bag, pulling out several dollar bills. "My mangas are starting to get old. I need some new ones. Sailor Moon and Bleach, please." I nodded and took the money.

"And Code Geass and Yu-Gi-Oh," May dded. I nodded again and walked off.

The PokeMart was relatively empty, save for a few clerks and one or two trainers stocking up on their stuff. I grabbed a few potions off a shelf, and then some full heals. Next came a couple of packages of Pokeballs.

Turning a corner into the book section, I began scanning for the manga section. I will say this, they had quite the multitude of mangas. Main problem, they had too many.

After thirteen and a half minutes (I really timed it), I managed to find a few copies of what Bella and May requested. My Pokemon, and May's Mudkip, were following along casually, actually remaining silent.

I paid for the stuff, using all of the money Bella had provided and saving my own. I walked out of the mart just as Bella and May exited the Center across the street. "Here." I handed them the bags with all of their books, and they dove into it, not literally, pouring over the ones I got them.

"Did you get any of the good ones?" Bella asked. "You know, the dirty ones?"

I stared at them. "You gonna have to get those yourself," I stated, plainly. "I will not be caught dead in an isle full of those."

May and Bella giggled. "I was only kidding," she assured me. "What you got was good enough."

"Well, then," I said. "With that outta the way, it's time for the first Gym Battle!"

* * *

"Now it's my turn to ask questions. Why must you insist that he be alive? And, have you gone against my orders and looked for him?"

"That's why I believe he's alive. If you don't want me looking for him, then you don't want me to find him, meaning that he's out there somewhere."

"That is an insufficent amount of evidence. I don't want you looking for him because I don't want you wasting time, and I don't want you to end up disappointed."

"...I'm looking because I care about him."

"...You're almost acting human. I can't not tolerate that."

"It was your order that made me into a human, so you would only have yourself to blame."

"That order is non-exsistant, since the timeline that it was decreed in was destroyed. Gone forever."

"I've learned a lot from being trapped in this human body. And now I would rather remain human, than have to put up with you."

"Well, Mespirit, I believe that that can be arranged."


	3. The Not-so-Peachy Beach

_Chapter Three: The Not-so-Peachy Beach_

I burst into the Gym, eyes darting around for whoever the Gym Leader was. "Hello?" I called out, seeing the room empty, save for two statues with names of all who had won there engraved onto it.

"Maybe he isn't here," May suggested. "My dad does stuff like that. Walking out and not telling anyone."

"The Gym Leader's your dad?" I asked, surprised. "That's interesting."

May shrugged. "Well, not really. He usually doesn't challenge trainers until after they've gotten the badge from Flannery, since he thinks he'd be too strong for them."

"Great," I muttered, deciding that there was no reason to be here at the Petalburg Gym. "So, then I guess we head to Rustburo City now?"

Bella nodded and pulled the door open. "That's where Roxanne is, and she's technically been voted the first Gym Leader, since people always face her first."

It was midday in Petalburg, the sun hanging out in the middle of the sky, baring down with all of it's might. It was roasting hot. Flamo was fine, since she was a Fire-Type, and Phil was fine since he was a partial Water-Type, and he could just hydrate himself of something like that.

"Well, why don't we get lunch now?" Flamo suggested. "Something like...beef!"

I rolled my eyes. "What about lunch?" I asked the girls, not bothering to translate. "It's about time for lunch."

Reaching into her pocket, May pulled out her phone and checked he time. "Yeah, I agreed with him. There's a resturant next to the Pokemon Center. They make some great hamburgers there."

"Then, let's go!" Bella shouted, grabbing May's and my wrist, and dragged us behind her as she ran toward the building.

"Well, I hope they have beef there," Flamo mumbled, still riding on top of Phil's water lily.

The building was large, and through the glass windows out front, I could see the countless tables and people dining in there. In one window, there was a flyer for a contest.

_The Pokemon 32oz Steak Challenge!_

_The first Pokemon to finish a 32oz steak will win it's trainer a free meal, and 300 in cash! _

_Starts at 12:00 sharp!_

I read it a second time, a smile grew across my face. "I think Flamo might be able to win this..."

Bella laughed. "A Torchic in a steak contest? Personally, I don't think that would go over well."

"You don't know Flamo like I do," I replied, holding the door open for them. "I think that she stands a fair chance."

The girls went to get a table, and I went to sign Flamo up. The bartender who was running the show must've thought I was on drugs or something, since the other Pokemon entered were two Poochyenas, a Bagon, and someone even had a Munchlax.

When I finished filling out the form, and the bartender pointed at a table where the ggother Pokemon were gathered, and their trainers congregated around them, giving them pep talks.

Picking up Flamo, I made my way over to the table. "All you have to do is completely devour the steak."

"Is that made of beef?"

"Yes," I answered. In all honestly, I wasn't sure. But I knew that the two came from the same place. "If you win this, we'll have some money to get more food."

"Say no more," Flamo said as I set her on an empty spot on the table. "Don't worry, I got this."

Like I once said before, when anyone says they got something, get away from them. It's for the best.

Bella and May were sitting in a booth in the corner, and with them was...when did Brendan get here.

"Hi," I said, sitting down in the available spot next to Bella. "What brings you here?" I asked Brendan.

"You have to come through here to get to the first Gym in Rustburo," he answered. "After all, Norman has quite the personality."

"You two know each other?" Bella questioned, looking up from her menu.

"Sorta," I replied. "We met on route 103, and battled, it was a tie."

Brendan nodded, propped his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands. "Yeah, I've never lost before. It was humiliating." The waiter came by with our drinks, Bella getting water, May got tea, and I got a root beer. How they managed to order exactly what I wanted baffled me. "But anyway," Brendan continued, looking up, "I guess it can't really be considered a loss."

"Yeah," I said, and then took a giant swig of root beer. I chugged down about half of it, and picked up the menu. "What looks good?"

"Since May said that the hamburgers are good, I'm getting one of those," Bella stated, folding up her menu and tossing it on the wooden table top. We placed our order, four hamburgers, and the waiter left. "It looks as if that steak contest is about to begin."

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the event you've been waiting for!" the bartender exclaimed from a microphone that was hanging from the ceiling, like they did at boxing rings. In his hand he carried a clipboard with all of the forms.

"This Poochyena, named Chomps, is owned by Angela Murray. He has a history of eating contests, with his last win being a contest in the wonderful Celadon City in Kanto!" There was a small burst of a applause throughout the resturant.

The bartender then waved his hand at the other Poochyena. "And this Poochyena, named Shredder, is owned by Marcus Duncan, and this is his first eating contest!" There was a few claps here and there, but no one was jumping out of their seats cheering. Well, except for the person I assumed to be Marcus Duncan.

"This Bagon, named Drago, is owned by Dan...Kow...willis..." That must be embarrassing. Being unable to correctly pronouce someone's last name on stage. "...is owned by Dan. They've been paired with each other for three years, and Dan claims that Drago likes to stuff his face."

The Munchlax was next. "This Munchlax, named Glut, is owned by Butch Matthews. Not only does he have a history of eating, but his entire species does!" There was a mix of laughter and a loud roar of cheering. This was much louder than either of the first two people's applauses combined.

Then I noticed the person recieveing the applause. It was the same teenager that had beaten me back on route 101. He was standing up next to his table, taking a bow.

Then came Flamo. "This...Torchic...named Flamo, is owned by Trevor White." That was all he said. Not a single person clapped. There was some chuckling over at Butch's table, though.

"Gee," I said, looking over at my friends. "Thanks for your support."

Bella nodded, reading one of the mangas I got her. "Yeah, whatever."

May was looking at herself in a handheld mirror, occasionally brushing some brown hair out of her face. Brendan was eyeing her, and looked as if he wanted to say something, but was too shy.

The waiter came back with our food, and I looked back at Flamo, who had a smug grin on her face. She nodded at me, and then watched calmly as some waiters came out of the kitchen, carrying plates with steaks on them.

I looked away, and dove into my hamburger. They made it the good way, cooking it on a actually grill, rather than just frying it in all that grease. Cheering in the background indicated that the steak contest was underway.

Suddenly, I froze mid-chew, my vison blurring and there was a ringing in my ears. Sound faded and distorted. My hands were shaking. I forced myself to swallow.

There was a faint beeping, and a voice played in the background.

_You can find what you need in Sinnoh. Once you have it, you'll need to get it back here to the Slateport Hospital. Then, and only then, you can stop the nightmare..._

**Fight it. **

It was a voice in my head, but much different from the one that I had encountered in Orre. It was more dark and ominous, with a hint of evil in it.

I struggled as I tried to remain focused, and suddenly, all returned to normal. The loud screams of excitement as the Pokemon ate away at the steaks, Flamo refering to the Munchlax as fatass, and much more.

"Are you okay?" Bella asked, grabbing my wrist and putting two fingers on the underside, checking my pulse. "What happened?"

I shook my head, attempting to make sense of it. "I don't know. There was this voice..." I trailed off, yanking my wrist from Bella's grip, since it really wouldn't help. The roar of cheering was dying down, meaning that the stuff your face with steak contest was over.

"Bella, let him be," May ordered. She finished the last bite of her burger, and wiped her face on a crumpled napkin. "It's probably a side effect of...you know."

"Oh..." They were talking about my amneisa. I had no doubt in my mind.

Flamo walked over, grease coating her mouth area. "I did good enough, second place." She belched, and fell on to her back. "That was really good."

"Flamo ate that steak in a minute and a half," May informed me. "That Munchlax just dumped the whole thing in its mouth. Lucky for him it was the boneless type."

I gave a weak smile. "Well, I'm proud of you, Flamo," I said, getting another belch from the Torchic. "And also worried about you."

"Ah, don't be. I'll be fine as long as I have some beef, I'll be fine," Flamo said, burping again.

* * *

"Well, then it looks like we have the rest of the day free," I said, walking out of the resturant. Brendan was still with us, apparently he was a friend of May's. "Should we head to Rustburo? I think we can make it there by nightfall."

"Hm." May had her map out, along with her phone. "That all depends on how long it takes us to walk a mile." She pointed at the distance between Petalburg and Rustburo on the map. "It several miles, some along the beach."

"Ooooh!" Bella exclaimed, clasping her hands together in front of her. "I love the beach! Can we go? Pleasepleaseplease? It'll be really peachy!" What does that even mean?

It appears that I was the de facto leader of this little group. Brendan, who I guess was now tagging along with us, was walking along behind May, staring at her or the map, I couldn't tell.

"I guess," I answered. After all, this journey was supposed to be peaceful, and what could be more peaceful than the beach? It took us several minutes of walking through route 104, but soon the sandy dunes were in sight and the crashing of the waves could be heard.

As the four of us peaked the dune, we could see that people covered the beach. Most were the new trainers that had recieved their starters yesterday, and somehow most seemed to be traveling in a large group.

"So, how long are we going to be here?" I asked. "I want to reach Rustburo before nightfall, so we can get a room at the Center."

May checked the time on her phone. "It's about one, so we could stay until three, and we should get there on time. Hopefully, maybe, probaby on time."

"You don't sound all that confident with that answer."

"Well..."

"It doesn't matter, really," I said, changing my mind. "If worse comes to worst, then we can camp out on the beach or something like that."

Bella had already ran off to change into her bathing suit, and May and Brendan went to do the same. I simply stood there and watched the waves.

"So, bro," Phil said, talking almost for the first time since I caught him. "You not much of a water lover, are ya?"

I shrugged. "I'm fine with water. I'm just thinking..."

"'bout what?"

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff, dude?"

"Stuff like...like...like what's up with her?" I pointed at an elderly woman standing on the beach, wearing a tattered brown cloak, with long, matted gray hair. It really made her look like a witch. She was holding up a cardboard sign that read: _The end it near, _on one side, and _Darkness is coming, _on the other.

"Nothing you see is real!" she shouted, waving the sign around at the crowd of onlookers, most of whom were ridiculing her. "We are only fake people in the mind of a single person! And the dark presense is coming! To take over the mind we are trapped in!"

There was a loud chorus of laughter, and some cops came along and took the woman away. Apparently, tons of people thought that she was drunk. Even the two officers were chuckling as they led her back to their unit.

Bella and May appeared, the former wearing a black bikini, and the latter wearing an emerald one, running over and ditching their bags next to me. "Come on, Trevor!" Bella insisted. "Don't be a fuddy-duddy, the water's going to be fine!"

"You say that, and then a Sharpedo bites your leg off," I muttered. "No, thanks," I replied aloud. "I'll stay here and guard the bags."

"Oh come on," Bella protested, folding her arms. "Are you afraid of water?"

I shook my head. "No, I just don't want to swim or anything right now."

"Your loss," she said, and ran into the waves.

I sighed, and plopped down on the gritty sand. My mind wandered back to the event in the resturant. _You can find what you need in Sinnoh. Once you have it, you'll need to get it back here to the Slateport Hospital. Then, and only then, you can stop the nightmare..._

What did that mean? That the key to my amnesia was in Sinnoh? And what's with the part about the hospital? Slateport City was just a couple of hours crossing the ocean, and I knew that we would be passing through there. I could check then

"I think I might like some swimming, bro," Phil commented, walking over and. sitting next to me. "You know, this beach has some sights. My brother would be after all the chicks in bikinis, and I don't want to say more. There's the crashing waves to inspire some artists, and the sun the sky, and that beer stand, to inspire drunkeness."

"Yeah," I muttered. "So, do you think that you can win against Roxanne tomorrow, if we get to challenge her? She uses rock types, and I think that you could deal some damage with some Grass or Water moves."

"Hm..." Phil thought for a minute, closing his eyes and focusing. "Yeah, I know how to use Absorb. That should help you, right?"

"It should, so I guess you should prepare to face against her," I said, leaning back against the sand dune, and putting my hands under my head. "I think she'll be among one of your first battles."

Phil yawned and streteched his stubby legs. "I've battled before. Gotten my ass kicked each time though, but I've battled."

"Great, thanks," I muttered. "There goes my confidence."

"Don't worry, I won't let you down," Phil assured me, closing his eyes. "I'm gonna take a nap now, dude." In seconds, he was asleep.

I envied him. I never got to sleep that fast. I aways had too much on my mind. Amnesia, planning future routes and Gym battles, money for food, and the guilt of leaving my friends in Orre.

"I wonder how they're doing," I mused to myself, closing my eyes and trying to picture their reactions to the letter I left behind.

David, Luna, and Skyler might have been saddened, while Dawn was probably perfectly happy with it. To make a long story short, she hated me after a certain incident, that, thanks to amnesia, I had no recollection of.

I sighed contently. I didn't care what they thought about me now. I was in Hoenn, far away from Orre, on a beach, just relaxing, with almost no care in the world.

Brendan was standing in the waves, letting them wash over him. From what I could see, he was thinking, just like I was. What he was thinking about, I can't tell.

Bella and May were out of the water now, and were working on a sandcastle. They tried to wave me over, but I shook my head. It had only been a half hour, and I was bored out of my mind.

I began to think about what other Pokemon I wanted in my team, and came up with the following: Salamance, because they are awesome, a Flygon, because the are awesome, and perhaps and Altaria, because they are awesome. Anyone care to guess what type I favor?

Sitting up, I saw the commontion on the beach. There was a large crowed circled around two trainers, watching the last moments of the battle. The winner was an Abra, that defeated the opponets Wingull with a Shadow Ball. The Abra's trainer was someone I recognized, someone in a leather jacket with khaki shorts.

It was none other than Butch, the teenager who beat me on route 101, and won whose Munchlax who the eating contest.

Butch said something that I couldn't make out, and the whole crowd erupted into laughter. The Wingull's trainer ran out of the crowd, and right past me. I could see the tears streaming in her eyes.

May was down there, and she was standing up for the loser, trying to talk some sense into him, but Butch just knocked her to the ground, eliciting more laughter from the crowd. Brendan raised his fist to strike, but Butch hit him first, right in the face.

"Wake up, Phil," I said shaking my Lotad. "We're going into action."

"Awesomesause," he mumbled, yawning.

"Where's Flamo?"

"Last I saw of her, she was taking a hardcore dump in some bushes. I think that she had too much steak."

"Fine, then it's you and me." We ran toward the crowd, and I planned a strategy. Perhaps Phil could use Astonish against the Abra, and make it flinch a couple of times. That might work...unless he used the Munchlax.

"Any one else up for a battle?" Butch asked, overconfidnetly. Before I could volunteer, someone else already had their hand up. "Please step forward," Butch commanded, smirk widening so much I swear his face was stretching.

Pushing my way through the crowd, I managed to catch sight of this new challenger. She was my age, wearing a black bikini, much like Bella's only with bright blue highlights. She had violet hair tied back into a pony tail with a red ribbon, and sunglasses covering her eyes. There was something about her that was familiar.

"Choose you first Pokemon," Butch said, returning his Abra.

The girl simply shrugged. "Okay then. Kip, you're up." A Skitty ran out from behind her, and took up an offensive position.

Butch was trying hard not to laugh, and so were his groupees. "Well, then, I'll use Glut!" In a flash of red, his Munchlax appeared on field, yawning and belching. Nice entrance.

"You can take the first move," the girl said, folding her arms.

"Glut use Scratch!" Butch ordered, and the Munchlax ran at the Skitty with far more speed than something that fat should have, claws ready.

"Kip use Protect!" the girl shouted. The Skitty formed a green sphere of protection around it, and Glut's attack was harmless. "Now use Giga Impact!"

As soon as it registered in their minds, the people of the crowd instantly began backing up, minds set on self-preservation.

The Skitty coated itself in a ball of white energy, and slammed into the Munchlax with a great force, knocking it back several feet before it fell to its side, and rolled to a stop. It was pointless to say that it was still in the fight.

Butch clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth in rage. "Who are you?" he demanded, pointing a finger at the girl.

She smiled, and removed her glasses with a single motion of her hand. "Don't you recognize me?" Butch shook his head. "Nikki Maddison. Unova Champ." Long story short, lots of jaws dropped. There was an utter silence, then everyone crowded around her.

"So, that's why she was familiar," I muttered to myself. I had apparently run into Nikki sometime in the past, and that ended up with a restraining order. I'll tell that story when I remember it.

"Come on, Phil," I said, turning from the scene, "let's go check on May and Brendan."

May and Bella were on their knees next to Brendan, with May moving her finger back and forth in front of his face to see if his eyes could follow it. Bella was watching, still in shock. "What exactly happened?" I asked, approaching the three of them.

"Well, after that bastard hurt that poor girl's feelings, May went up to him and was all like 'that was mean you ass,' and then he like shoved her down, and Brendan was all like 'don't touch her' and went to punch him, but he like hit first, and this happened..." Bella explained.

Phil coughed. "Sad thing is, I understood that."

Brendan stood up, blinking a couple of times. There was a trickle of blood running out from his nose, but other than that, there was no sign of damage. Not even a brusie. "Yeah, the beach was a great idea, Bella," he said, voice dripping in sarcasm. "We should totally do this again."

"Well, I didn't know this was going to happen," she argued. "Let's just get dressed again and get back onto the trail to Rustburo." Bella stormed off to get her bag, and May groaned in annoyance and went after her.

"Well, this has been a lovely episode," I said, trying to think of something else to say. Not being able to think of anything, I simply stood there.

"I have a question," Brendan stated, standing up. "Do you know anything about girls?"

"That depends on what you mean. I know that they're different from us guys, because...you know."

Brendan face-palmed. "That's not what I meant. I meant like, how to talk to them and not come off as an ass." He sighed. "You saw what I said to her. I don't want to do that again."

I smiled. "You like her, don't you?"

"Not her," Brendan admitted, looking over as May and Bella walked by and into the changing rooms.

"Oh, I see. It's May, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Don't tell her," he told me. "But if you do, don't say that I was too shy to say it, okay?"

"No problem."

Brendan nodded and ran to get his clothes and change.

Flamo came running over and jumped on top of Phil's lily pad. "I'm back. And you might not want to walk next to those bushes. Just a warning."

I sighed. "Why me?"

"Where the hell have you been?" I heard a voice say. I looked around, but saw no one. "Down here." Right next to me was the Skitty that had taken out the Munchlax.

"Um...hi?"

"Seriously, where have you been?" the Skitty asked. "You vanish for a whole year, and now, I finally find you."

"Who are you?"

He paled a little. "It's me, Kip. Don't you remember? We travelled through Unova together. With Nikki. You remember, right?"

I didn't remember, but memories came flooding back. Choosing Ivy as a starter. Mespirit forced to come along with me in human form, catching Bark, meeting N, meeting Nikki, getting Aqua, beating the first Gym, fighting Team Plasma at the Dreamyard, Mespirit giving me the ability to understand Pokemon (So that's how that happened!) beating the second Gym, getting shot, dieing, being revived, catching Zen, beating the third Gym, the building exploding in the desert, Nikki being wounded, and finally, facing off against a uber Darkrai with the aide of Giratina. After that, it was all black.

"Oh my God..." I muttered under my breath, eyes phased out and staring off into the distance. I remembered. I remembered something. Everything before that in between the time that I woke up in Orre were still black.

But, I remembered.

Fuck yeah.

**And that's chapter three. Leave a review if you want, critisim welcome, as it helps me to improve, or leave a review to tell me hpw you think I;m doing. Thanks. Peace!**


	4. Versus Roxanne and Screwing Courage

_Chapter Four: Versus Roxanne and Screwing Courage_

"We're lost." May stated it so simply. She didn't even need to look up from the large paper in her hands. "The map doesn't even seem to match up with anything here."

Brendan shrugged, looking around at the scenery. "Maybe because that's the map for Viridian Forest, in Kanto." He casually pointed at the title of the map, which proved what he said.

That certainly helped the cause. Bella over-dramatically collasped to the ground. "We're going to die of starvation, die of thirst, die of the cold nights, die of the exhaustion..." She reached her hand out, as if she was trying to touch something invisible. "I see the light already!"

Sighing, May gave Bella a light tap to the side with her foot. "Stop screwing around," she ordered, folding up the useless map and shoving it into her pocket. "Stand up and help us find our way in here. Trevor isn't much help. He's just staring off into space."

In truth, that was exactly what I was doing. So I shook my head a few times, snapping out of my daydream, a daydream of memories long lost. "How close are we to Rustburo? I need to beat Roxanne."

Brendan face-palmed. "Is that all you think about? Getting you first badge? And to answer your question, we're still lost in Petalburg woods."

"Great," I muttered, looking around. Tall trees grew on all sides of us, their canopies blocking out a large amount of sunlight. Because of this, plant life on the ground was nearly non-exsistant, limited to patches of shrubbery where sunbeams broke through the leaves.

Cascoons and Silcoons sat around here and there, not moving as they awaited their evolutions into Beautiflys and Dustoxs. Tailows flew overhead, chirping to each other during their search for prey. Slakoths lazily slept on low-hanging tree branches, arms dangling off the sides.

It was just the four of us humans, our Pokemon stashed away in their Pokeballs. It was nice to have the semi-quiet, peaceful time, with only the sounds of nature and not Flamo's ranting for beef.

Brendan was walking alongside May and Bella, whilst I was a few feet behind them, my mind replaying all the regained memories. I was glad to have them back, but I was still missing a ton.

"So," Bella asked as we walked under some low branches, knocking some Slakoth arms away like vines, "who's all fighting Roxanne?"

"Not me," May replied instantly, leading the group to another dead end. "I'm more into contests."

Brendan seemed to think for a minute, before slowing his pace to walk next to me. "What should I say?" he asked in a low whisper.

"What?"

"If I say that I'm doing contests, May might see me as a rival, or she might see that we have something in common. If I say that I'm in the League Challenge, she might not like me because she's not into battling, or she might see me as a potential contestant for the Champion."

I blinked. And the blinked again. "I can't make that decision for you," I replied, whispering. "You'll have to make it yourself." I thought for a minute. "You could actually do both, if you wanted, to be on the safe side."

He appeared to muse it over, speeding his pace back up to match the girls'. It was obvious that he liked May. Somewhat too obvious...

I cracked my knuckled, then popped my neck, and listened to the sound of nature. Bug Pokemon calling out to each other, bird Pokemon chirping, the babbling of a brook in the distance. The hum of an engine as some strange dude in a platinum suit with a monocule passing by on a platinum moped. He gave a wave as he passed. Other than that, the forest was peaceful.

It reminded me of my experience in Unova's Pinwheel forest. I smiled, glad that I could actually remember something, and then that faded when I remembered Team Plasma's theft of the dragon skull.

I had been able to match some of my flashbacks to the Unova adventure, but not all of them. There were still some missing pieces. The one thing that bugged me. I only had the memories up to the point of me facing off Darkrai with the aide of Giratina. Nothing about the event, just that it happened. As I thought of the showdown, a man in a green business suit ran up to us, panting heavily.

"Have...you...seen...a Shroomish...come by...here?" he questioned, putting his hands on his knees as he was trying to catch his breath.

"Um...no," May answered. "But we can help you find it if you want."

He shook his head. "Nah, I just really like Shroomish. They're my favorite Pokemon." He waved and left, heading back in the direction that he came from.

"That's something you don't see everyday," Bella commented, "A dude in a suit out in the forest, chasing Pokemon."

"Couldn't we have asked him for some directions to get out of here?" I looked at them, and their faces instantly turned to that of irritated.

"Thanks for telling us now," Brendan said, folding his arms. "Now how are we going to get out of here? There's not a single map around, and it's only a few more hours until dark."

That made Bella hysterical. "I don't want to sleep on the ground with insects! I need a room, a bed, a tent, something other than the ground!" She flopped back on to the ground, and we all rolled our eyes.

"At night, the lights of the city can be seen more easily," Brendan reminded her, as Bella continued pitching her fit. "Which means we'll know where to go, and can get a room at the Center."

Suddenly, May snapped her fingers. "We got a room back in Petalburg City, and never got to use it. If we head back, we might get there before dark," she suggested, looking around. "Then again, we don't know how to get out of here."

Bella had stopped flailing on the ground, and looked up at the figure of a man passing by in the distance. "Why can't we just ask that pirate guy for directions? He's coming this way." She stood up and brushed the leaves and dirt off the front of her jacket.

"Yo, pirate man!" she called out, waving him over. The man hesistated, and walked over, toting a suitcase in his hand.

"What?" he snapped crankily, checking his watch. He had a bandana with some sort of skull and crossbones on it, white and blue striped shirt, and dark pants. "I really need to leave."

Bella slightly wavered at his tone, but asked anyway. "We're lost, and we need to know how to get out of here. Can you tell us how to get out of this hell-hole of a forest?"

Sighing, the man pointed in the direction he was going. "Kids nowadays," he muttered. "Always rushing into things without planning. It's that way."

"Thanks!" May shouted as she ran off, and soon after followed by Brendan.

"What's up with them?" Bella asked, watching them as they become little more than a speck in the distance.

I shrugged. "Beats me. They're probably just really hating the great outdoors after getting lost. It tends to happen."

"Theif!" It was the same man in the green suit we had seen minutes before, once again panting and pointing at the pirate. "He stole my breifcase!"

The pirate groaned, and twirled around, punching the suit man in the face and knocking him flat on his back . "Shut up!" He took off running, and without thinking, I took off after him.

"What are you doing?" Bella questioned as she ran along beside me, "This guy is some criminal, and you're going after him without any form of weapon."

"Well, you're after him too," I replied. "Just do what I did; screw your courage to the sticking place, and you will not fail."

"What?"

"It's Shakespeare."

"Oh..."

The pirate had a pretty good lead over us, easily twenty yards. He glanced back to see if he was getting away, and missing the tree root jutting out from the ground. Landing with an "Ompf!" he sent up a small cloud of dust when he hit.

I bit my lip to contain my laughter, and grabbed the suitcase as the fallen felon tried to get up, only to recieve a karate chop from Bella right in the back of the neck, knocking him out. There was an awkward silence as I looked from the pirate to Bella. "Damn, girl," I exclaimed. "Where'd you learn that?"

"I took some karate," she replied, smiling cheekily. "After all, a girl's got to be able to defend herself one way or another."

I chuckled. "I would go with another," I said, walking back to where the green suit man had been knocked down. "Perferably a .44."

"Gee," Bella said in mock awe, "Someone's been playing too many video games."

"Have not!" I retorted. "It's been at least a year since I've even touched a controller." In truth, I wasn't sure how accurate that was. By my calculations, I'd lost a whole year in between Unova and Orre.

The suit man stood up, holding one hand to the impact zone of the pirate's fist. "Oh, you got it back!" he exclaimed as we approached. He smiled weakly and reached into his pocket. "Now, I'm a fair man, and since you did something for me, I'll give you this," he said, retrieving a blue Pokeball with two red lines on it. "I only have one Great Ball, so you two will have to decide who gets it."

"Thanks," I said, taking it from his hand. "You want it, Bella?"

"Nah," she answered. "It's fair for you to have it; you gave me that money yesterday."

I nodded, and stashed it into my pocket. Now, what could I catch with it? Bagon? Trapinch? Swablu? The possibilites were endless. Kinda...

The man grunted as he rubbed his jaw, a slight bruise forming where he took the hit. "So, what'd you do with the theif?"

I jerked my thumb back to where the pirate was out cold. "He's back there, so you can call the cops and such."

He nodded, and pulled out his phone. "Thanks for you help, kids. Sucks that I couldn't find a Shroomish though..." he walked away, holding the phone up to his ear as he made the call.

"So, how about we get back to the city?" I guestured to the path that Brendan and May had taken off in, leaving a trail of bent grass to mark their footsteps.

She nodded. "Last one there has to pay for dinner!" Bella shouted, taking off as fast as she could. I groaned and ran after her, eventually reaching Rustburo City without incident.

* * *

Rustburo City was much larger than Petalburg, Odale, and Littleroot all put together. Towers towered over the smaller buildings, while streets were jammed with people. Car horns and the loud uproar of hundred of voices were the sounds of Rustburo.

"Now, where's the Gym?" I looked around for one of those almost always inconviently placed 'you are here' maps, but saw none. As expected, they were most likely placed in the most unnessesary places.

"You know," Bella said, brushing her brunette hair over her ear. "We should be finding May and Brendan first. They could be anywhere."

"Or over there," I said, pointing at the two of them waving at us from across the street.

When the traffic stopped, we bolted over to them. "Where have you two been?"

"Around," Brendan replied, smiling present on his face as he reached into his pocket and produced a small shiny medal object. "Beat Roxanne while you two were still in the woods."

That was shocking. "How? We weren't gone for more than ten minutes!"

"Treeko beats Rock-Types like he was born to," he explained. "Easily took out both of her Geodudes."

Bella blinked, and pulled out a guide to the Hoenn League, flipping to the section on Roxanne. "It says here that she only has two Pokemon, and one of them is a Nosepass. Not two Geodudes."

Brendan shrugged as he pinned the badge to his bag strap. "Well, she got a new one somewhere."

"Phil can beat them both, Lotads are both Water and Grass-Types," I said, thinking out a plan for my Gym battle. "Where's the Gym? I'm going right now."

"A few blocks north, and then a few east. You can't miss it," May replied, looking bored as she inspected her nails. "I wish I did. Nothing much to do there."

"Nothing much to do at a Gym?" I asked, walking away. "You really must not like battling."

May shook her head, even though I was out of her sight, lost in the crowd on the streets.

All these people, going somewhere. Why have I never cared?

Pushing my way through, it took several minutes to see the pale green electric sign of the Gym standing tall above some of the smaller buildings. And the McDonalds sign. It wasn't far now.

Then, my vision went blurry. The roaring chatter of the pedestrians faded, and were replaced by a ringing in my ears. I dropped to my knees. Clutching my ears to try to stop the ringing, the beeping sound returned, accompanied by voices.

_...This is fascinating! I've never seen anything like this before! To believe that closing a Pokemon's heart can give them such great power! If only he could tell me what he's experiencing right now!_

It was a different voice than the one telling me to find something in Sinnoh, and then get back to Slateport. It was more deeper, and had a slight accent to it.

**Fight against it. I cannot allow all I have worked so hard to accomplish to be ruined so easily.**

Once again, that other voice. I didn't know who or what it was, butlistened to it, forcing my mind to correct itself.

My vision returned, and soon my hearing was back to normal. I hadn't even noticed that I was trembling. Passerbys were crowded around me, with a doctor, what a coincidence, looking me over.

"What happened?" he asked, taking my pulse. I mentally rolled my eyes, remembering how Bella did the same.

I shook my head. "Nothing. I'm alright."

He scoffed. "Yeah, sure. Healthy teenagers don't just fall to the ground, trembling as if they were scared to death of air."

I sighed, standing back up. "Really, I'm fine."

"It wasn't a seizure, was it?"

"No, I'm fine."

He released a breath. "You seem fine know. If that ever happens again, I want you to go to the nearest clinic, and get some treatment. You understand?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "I'll do that."

The crowd began to dissipate, still mumuring about my incident. I really needed to figure out what that whole thing was about, and find a way to put an end to it.

But, that wasn't my major concern.

The Gym doors slid open, and I casually stepped in, seeing hordes of other trainers in there, some bragging about their new badges to those that had lost. I walked up to the desk. "Um...I want to challenge Roxanne."

Sighing, the secretary handed me a form. "Here, fill this out, and you're lucky, that she's still open now." She went back to her Facebook page, changing her status update to bored as hell.

Taking a pen off the desk, I scribbled in all the info the form asked for, not bothering to use neat hand writing. I read over the fine print three times. Convinced that there was no catch, I handed it back and the secertary pointed me at a door.

The arena was quite simple. A gravel ground with large boulders scattered around here and there. In the middle of the room, there was a risen up section, with a recliner and TV hooked up there, and the one called Roxanne sat in the LayZ boy chair, watching something on the tube.

"Um...hi?" I awkwardly greeted as I approached. She looked up, and jumped out of the chair.

"So, I guess that you're the next challenger?" Roxanne asked, folding her arms. "It's about time."

"Yeah," I replied. "And I thought you were a teacher, not a couch potato."

She nodded. "I am. But today's my day off, so I thought I'd spend it watching other people battle and finding ways to beat certain strategies that they're put up against."

_Yeah, the lazy way, _thought the second voice in my head. Damn, I had two voices in my head? I'm one screwed up individual. Wait...

_Voi? Is that you? _I thought back. Voi had been the voice in my head during my Unova adventure, and in reality he was Giratina. Where he decided to haunt my mind, I don't know.

_Perhaps. _

_Um...okay. Yes or no._

"Are we going to start" Roxanne asked, taking out her first Pokeball. "I need to get back to researching."

I took out Phil's Pokeball. "I'm ready."

"The Gym match between Leader Roxanne and Trevor White is about to begin!" the referee shouted, and some muted applause came from the people in the stands. I'm sure that no one cared about who won, they were just here to see what Roxanne was using so they could beat her.

"This will be a two-on-two match, with no switching out," the ref continued. "Challenger Trevor will get the first move!" He raised a flag. "Let the battle begin!"

I tossed out Phil's Pokeball, releasing my Lotad onto the field. Roxanne sent out, big surprise, Regirock. Hahaha, just kidding. It was a Geodude.

"So, all I have to do is beat that Geodude, and we win?" asked Phil, as he calmly sat there while the Geodude began to stretch and flex his rock-hard muscles. See what I did there?

"That and one other Pokemon," I explained. "Use Absorb!"

Tiny green orbs flew out of the floating rock, and into Phil. The Geodude somehow managed to endure the super-super effective move. It gronaed in pain as it composed itself, and shrugged it off.

"Is that all you've got?" Roxanne chided. "Geodude, use Rollout!"

The pet rock of hers curled up into a ball and began spinning at a high rate of speed, reminding me of Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm sure that analogy has been over used.

It launched forward, and slammed into Phil. My Lotad was flipped on to his back from the force of impact.

"That really hurt," he said, rolling upright again. "Perhaps this will be harder than we thought."

"Don't give in yet," I said. "Screw you courage to the sticking place, and you will not fail."

"What?"

"It's...never mind. Use Absorb again!"

The tiny green particles of light drained the Geodude's energy, and gave it to Phil, restoring some health. Yet again, that Geodude managed to stay in the fight. "Wow," I commented, losing some of the confidence I had. "That's one strong Geodude."

"I know," Roxanne added, gloating a little. "Use Rollout again!"

Once more, the rock slammed into Phil, doing the same rolling move as Sonic. "Use Absorb since it's close!" I called out. Hopefully that would be the finisher.

It wasn't.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed, seeing the Geodude weakly push itself back up. It was a lot stronger than I had anticipated. "That's impressive."

Roxanne shrugged, trying to hide her snide smile. "I've been doing this for a while now, I'm surprised that it hasn't evolved yet."

The second that she finished speaking, her Geodude began to glow...

"Oh son of a bitch!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in defeat. "I swear Arceus just wants my life to suck."

The small rock grew larger, more circular, and gained two new arms. When the light faded, the Graveler stood tall, ready to strike.

Roxanne was clapping, smirk plastered to her face like a frescoe. "Allright, you evolved!" She winked at me. "I hope you can take this one down," she remarked, knowing that she wasn't going to lose. "Use Rollout!"

"Phil, dodge it!" I ordered. But, the Lotad was petrified. He could only watch as the giant spinning ball slammed into him, and sent him flying across the room. Long story short, he was knocked out. And there was a Lotad-shaped dent in the wall.

"Lotad is unable to battle!" the ref called out. "Graveler wins!" Mixed applause and cheering rang out from the crowd. One die-hard fan had an airhorn.

Phil getting knocked out so early ruined my perfect plan. Flamo was weak to Rock, and wouldn't be able to finish it off. Unless...that might work.

"Go Flamo!" I shouted, throwing her ball. My Torchic materialized on the field, blinking as she took in her surroundings.

"Wazzup bitches-that's a Graveler," she said, making an immortal entrance sentence. "I don't think that I can-"

"It's made of beef!" I told her.

Her eyes bulged, and she jumped. Graveler's eye widened as the little fire chicken flew at him. Flamo attacked virosously. Pecking and jabbing the Graveler as she attempted to get the beef. "Wait a minute...you lied to me!" She walked over to me, and pecked my foot. "Jerk."

"Rollout one more time!" Roxanne ordered. I sighed as Flamo hit the wall on the far side of the Gym, and slid down it like they do in cartoons. Well, this sucked.

* * *

May, Brendan, and Bella were waiting outside, and the sun was setting over Mt. Chimney, casting a warm, orange glow on the clouds surrounding it. "That almost went well."

"Lost?" Bella asked, giving me a sympathetic smile.

I nodded. "Her damn Geodude evolved mid-battle," I explained. "There was nothing I could do."

May shrugged. "That's life. Sometimes it can be rough." Brendan nodded, his mind elsewhere.

Bella seemed to be the happiest in the group. "Well, let's eat! There's a nice seafood place just up the street! I can smell the food from here!" She ran off, May tailing behind her. Brendan looked up at me.

"I'm going to do it tonight," he simply said.

"What?"

"I'm going to ask May out tonight," he said. "I'm freaking out. But I made a deal with myself that I would ask her out when I got my first badge."

I smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Well, good for you. Just remember to screw you courage to the sticking place, and you will not fail."

"What?"

"It's Shakespeare."

"Oh..."

* * *

The coversation at dinner was rather conventional. We laid out plans for the next couple of days, in which I would beat Roxanne, we'd do some sightseeing, and maybe even visit the trainer school, and then we'd head to Dewford Town to face Brawley.

Brendan stole quick glances at May every so often, trying to screw his courage to the sticking place. By the time we finished eating, he still hadn't asked.

"Hey, May?" he finally said. This was the big moment. I pretended not to noticed, choosing to chug the last bit of root beer.

"Yeah?" She looked over, wiping her mouth with her crumpled napkin.

"I was wondering, maybe you'd like to...well, hang out or something sometime."

Bella's hand flew to her mouth, and she gasped. "OMG! Are you asking her out?"

Brendan shyly shrugged and looked back down at his plate, pushing some carrots around on his plate. "Well..."

"I'd love to," May replied, giving him a warm smile. "We'll do something tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Brendan nodded, cheeks becoming red. "Sure."

Well, at least something good happened that day.

**I got a beta, so thanks to Franada-Girl97 for betaing.**


	5. First Date on Halloween

_Chapter Five: First Date on Halloween_

"How do I look?" Brendan asked, straightening his tie. He stood in front of the mirror in our room at the Center, desprately trying to make a good first impression on May.

I rolled my eyes for the twelfth time in the past five minutes. "The same as you did five minutes ago," I replied, not even looking up from the computer. I was studying up on Rock-Types, since I planned to beat Roxanne next time. "And I think you'll look the same in five more minutes."

He groaned. "You don't know how important this is, do you? What it's like to go out on a date." Fixing the collar of his shirt for the ninth time, he shrugged. "I guess that's good enough."

I shook my head sadly, scrolling down the page. "I guess you're leaving then?"

"Yeah. I don't want to be late."

"You know the rules," I said, taking on a mock fatherly tone. "Don't stay out after ten, and no kissing at all. And no holding hands. And no-"

"Gee, shut up," he interrupted, irately. "This is a serious matter. I'm actually going out on a date with a girl." Brendan took in a deep breath, and then let it out. He repeated this to the point I thought he was going to hyperventilate.

"Where are you two going?" I asked, partly out of curiousity, and partly to make sure that he wasn't taking her to some lame place.

"There's a Halloween festival tonight at the park, so we decided to go there," he replied, wringing his hands nervously. "You don't think that's a bad idea right? We both made the decision."

I shrugged. "Not really. I've considered going, mainly for the candy, but still seems to be promising." I switched from reading about the Rock-Types to reading about the new Fairy-Types. It was saddening, to see something that could beat Dragon-Types. "Is that you're costume?" I asked, spinning around in the office chair to face him.

He rolled his eyes. "No. Does it look like a costume? May and I agreed not to wear costumes, to make it more official." Brendan shot a glance at the clock, and sighed, sitting down on the bed. "I'm supposed to pick her up at five," he explained, heading for the door. "It's four-thirty now, so I should go ahead and leave."

"Their room is right across the hall," I told him. "You don't need to worry about being late." I spun back around, and began diving through the info on the new type. "And don't show up early, it'll make you seem desperate."

Brendan gave a half-hearted laugh. "Have much experience in that area, do you?" he asked, checking his watch for the umpteenth time. It had only been a few seconds.

"Not really," I replied, examining a picture of a Sylveon. "But I've seen plenty of movies in my time. And it never goes right for the guys who either show up early or show up late. Life's just not fair like that."

"Then I'll get there exactly on time," Brendan said, reaching for the TV remote. "Anything good on?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "Why don't you find one of those cheesy romance movies to study? Just make sure it's not a porno. That's a classic example of how your first date should not go."

He shrugged, and settled on a battling channel. Apparently, someone was facing against Roxanne. A few minutes later, he asked; "So, you think you'll be able to beat Roxanne this time around?"

"Hopefully," I said, powering down the computer. "Phil and Flamo have a lot of training to go through." I paused for a minute, looking up at the ceiling fan, where Brendan's Treeko sat. He was taking it easy,stretching out his arms and legs as he sat on a motionless blade. "Maybe you'll let me borrow Treeko..?"

Brendan shook his head, not moving his eyes from the TV. "I'd doubt that. You've gotta win with your own Pokemon, bro. It just wouldn't seem right if you didn't." He glanced back up at the clock, sighing when he saw that he still had five minutes. "God, I'm freaking out."

"Take a chill pill," I advised him,spinning around in circles in the office chair like a little kid. "If that's doesn't work, then weed might work."

"Gee, you're really helpful," he said, voice coated in sarcasm. "Perhaps you should have your own show where you tell your insights to dating. It can be called: How Not to Date."

I smirked. "Just try not to make a complete idiot out of yourself," I told him. "just look confident that it'll all work out, but still slightly curious to whether it will or not."

He gave me a blank stare. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"I don't know, I'm just trying to give you some advice." I leaned back in the chair, looking at the white plaster roof. "Find out what she likes, and take an interest in them. Let her know your interests, so that she can take an interest."

"I'll try," Brendan said, standing up and staring at his watch. "I've got one minute. Any last tips?"

"Don't screw it up."

"Thanks," he muttered. "I'm heading over. Wish me luck." He opened the door and stepped out, letting it shut behind him.

I stood up and stretched. "Well, I've got some training to do." I grabbed Flamo and Phil's Pokeballs off the table, and headed for the door. When I opened it, I saw Bella sticking her head out of the door to her and May's room. She put her finger to her mouth, signaling silence.

May and Brendan were walking down the hall, May wearing a simple yellow dress that came down to her knees. As soon as they rounded the corner, Bella ran out of her room and into ours, two giant white paper bags in her hands. "Come on," she said. "We don't have much time."

"Um...time for what?" I asked as she threw the bags one of the beds. "I was about to go training, so make it quick."

"It's simple," Bella said, opening one bag and pulling out a large blue and white blob of fabric. "Here, put this on, we're going to spy on them." She thrust it into my arms.

It took me a minute to figure out what the fabric was. When I did, I knew exactly what Bella had in mind. "Oh no," I protested. "This is not going to work. And we shouldn't spy on them. Give them some privacy, Bell."

She held up a similar red and white outfit next to her. "See? This should fit perfectly. I'll change in the bathroom, and you change in here, and we'll go after them, kay?"

"Did you not hear what I just said?" I asked, as she walked by. "I don't want to spy on them. They deserve privacy."

Bella giggled. "Fine. Then we'll go out and have a good time, and if we happen to see them, then it'll purely be a coincidence."

I rolled my eyes. "Help me, please," I muttered to whichever Legendary would listen.

* * *

Brendan poked his fries with his fork, thinking of something to say to May. He racked his brains for something funny or witty, maybe a personal story, but nothing came to mind.

They were sitting at an outside table of a cafe just off the side of the park, where the kids were out trick-or-treating. They went early than most other people, because the adults and teenagers partied hard in the streets after dark.

A third, empty chair sat at their table, as if accomodating an invisble guest to observe their first date.

The trees in the park were adorned with cheap, fake plastic skeletons, striking omnious poses. There were haybales dragged in from the country side, with jack-o-lanterns sitting on top of them. The street had been blocked off from traffic, which was lighter than usual, due to so many people taking the day off. People would use any holiday to get drunk and celebrate.

"So," May said, breaking the awkward silence, "Are we going to go to the haunted maze when it opens?"

Shrugging, Brendan ate a fry. "Sure, why not? How scary can it be?"

May giggled. "You'd be surprised," she said. "I've came here before, a couples years back, and that scared the daylights outta me."

"Well, you got me to protect you," Brendan reassured her, smiling. "I'll be right there for you."

"Thanks," May replied. "Can I ask why you asked me out? I mean, what do you like about me?"

Brendan blinked, caught off guard by the question. "Um...why do you want to know? I can tell you, if you want."

May looked down, picking at her salad. "Well, back in Petalburg City, all my friends were getting hooked up with guys, but no one ever asked me out. I thought that no one liked me. I wanted to be a top coordinator so guys would see how awesome I was, and why...why am I telling you this?"

"Sometimes, you just have to tell others your problems," Brendan answered. "But, to answer your earlier question, I like you because you're beautiful." His mind was screaming for him to shut up before he made himself look stupid, since he was stepping way out of his comfort zone.

May stared at him. "So it was just because of my looks?"

Brendan managed to keep from freaking out. "No," he replied, shaking his head. "I mean every part of you is beautiful. Your personality, your actions, your attitude. All of them are examples of perfect beauty."

May cheeks were red, and she looked back at her food. "No one's ever said that to me. No one's ever even said that I was beautiful. Not even my dad."

That was a surprised to Brendan. Weren't dads supposed to say that their daughters are beautiful?

Before he could say anything, May continued. "He was always caught up in his Gym, never really living much of a home life. When I left home, my mom wanted a divorce."

Brendan nodded. "I know what that's like. My parents are divorced. Dad was spening to much time in the lab, and not enought time with Mom. When I was younger, she divorced him, and the last time I saw him was when I got Treeko."

May looked up, fighting tears in her eyes. "Someone wise once told me that if you think you're having a bad day, someone has it worse. I never really believed it until now. No offense." she added with a weak smile.

"Ah, none taken," Brendan said, waving the comment away. "It was hard for my mom, since I didn't have a male influence around the house. I kinda learned on my own after I was eight. Until then, I was intrigued with soap-operas just like my mom."

Chuckling, May seemed to lighten up. She raised her glass of water for a cheer. "To people like us with screwed up lives."

"Here here," Brendan said, clinking his glass of Pepsi with her water, and taking a giant gulp of it. Arcoss the street, some girl dressed in a Latias costume was dragging a boy dressed in a Latios costume behind her, despite his constant protesting. "At least we're not like them."

May laughed and nodded. "Yeah. I'll bet their friends are hopeless nerds that sit around watching porn all day."

"And play World of Warcraft all day as well," Brendan chimed in, watching as the Latios guy gave in and followed, figuring that arguing was pointless.

"And will live in their mother's basements when they're forty," May added.

"And will never get married," Brendan finished. "Wow, we're were cruel to them."

May shook her head, brushing some of her brunette hair over her ear. "It was just some random thoughts. No harm done."

Brendan took the check as the waiter gave it to them, and gave a low whistle. "Wow, this place is expensive. I'm glad I beat Roxanne," he muttered, pulling out a roll of bills and plopping them down on the table. "Well, let's go, shall we?"

Even though there was still roughly an hour until the Halloween night festivites began, people were out in the streets drunker than a redneck at New Years. A group of three people one dressed as a Zigzagoon, each had a bottle in each hand, and were playing a drinking game. Each time one saw a skeleton, they would shout out "Bones!" and tilt one back.

Children chased each other around, trying to keep themselves entertained before their parents took them home. There wasn't much of a line at the haunted corn maze, with the only two people being the Latios guy and Latias girl.

"Come on," May urged, pulling Brendan behind her. "Let's get in line now so we don't have to wait."

The Latios was sulking, his head down as the Latias ranted on and on. "...and then we can go bob for apples, and then we go through the haunted house, and then we can eat, and then..." the list went on and on.

When the Latios looked up, Brendan saw who it was. "Trevor? What are you doing here? And why are you dressed like that?"

"We're out to enjoy the Halloween fun!" Bella exclaimed, smoothing out the wrinkles in her Latias costume. "We didn't think we'd run into you two here."

"Gee, even though I told you this was where we were going?" May asked, shooting an accusatory glance at her. "You're not here to spy on us, are you?" she asked.

"What?" Bella exclaimed, poorly faking shock. "I would never stoop so low!" The wide grin in between her cheeks didn't help prove that.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure."

"I wouldn't!"

"You forced me to wear this damn costume, and that's pretty low," I retorted, tugging on the Latios's red triangle on my chest.

Bella folded her arms. "Well, you said you'd do it for three root beers, and I got them for you. You can't complain."

Brendan and May stared at me. "Well...I like root beer."

"You'd sell your soul for that stuff," Bella said.

"No I...yeah, probably."

"Well, since we're all here together, would you care to join us in the corn maze?" May asked, as Brendan hesistantly put his arm around her shoulder. She didn't mind. "After all, the more of us that get scared, the less that get to laugh at us for it."

Bella looked at me, and I looked at her, each thinking. "When you put it that way," I said, pulling one of my arms into my sleeve and under the Latios costume. A few seconds later, I pulled my arm out, holding Phil's and Flamo's Pokeball in my hand. "Why not break out the Pokemon?"

Brendan shrugged. "I left Treeko in the room to guard it."

"Same for Mud and Sora," May said, and Bella nodded.

"Well, then," I said, depressing the buttons on the balls to release my two party members, "it'll just be these two." Flamo and Phil materialized, each one looking around at their surroundings.

Flamo was the first to speak. "Um...where are we? Near a beef stand?"

"We're going into a haunted maze," I informed them. "It'll be fun. Spending a nice Halloween, getting the hell scared out of us. It'll be fun."

Flamo rolled her eyes. Phil sat there, making some wierd groaning sound. "Oh come on," I pleaded. "It can't be all that bad."

"I'll go," Phil said. "But I hate scary places. They scare me."

Blinking, Flamo looked over at him. "The structure of that last sentences is mind-blowing. You should become a grammar teacher or something."

An event staff member came over and looked over the line, noticing that it had gotten quite long. He unlatched the gate, and we were the first group in. There were long paths of corn stalks on either side of us, and in minutes, we'd gotten hopelessly lost.

"We're going to die of starvation!" Bella exclaimed, falling to the ground in a repeat of the Petalburg Woods drama. "We'll die of exhaustion!"

The rest of us were completely irate, and her whining wasn't helping. "Get you ass up," May snapped, folding her arms. "Can't you act mature for once?" Something really ticked her off.

Bella shot her a mean look, and stood up, also folding her arms. "You can ask nicely," she replied. "People might be more inclined to listen if you do."

May groaned and looked to the side. "Don't argue. Just stop acting so childish all the friggin' time. You're fifteen, for crying out loud."

"Well gee, sorry _mom._" Bella said.

Brendan and I rolled our eyes, completely in the dark as to what the instigation of the conflict was.

"Maybe you just act too mature," Bella finished.

"At least I'm acting mature," May retorted. "Every five minutes, you act like a little kid. Rolling on the ground, whining, it's so annoying!" She stopped walking, face red with anger. "I'm getting sick of you."

"Gee, May," Brendan said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Chill out. Just let it go." May shrugged his hand off.

"Hmpfh." May turned away from Brendan, and started walking ahead of us down the path, which most likely led to nowhere. "You wouldn't understand. I need to get away from this bitch."

"Hey!" Bella shouted. "You're one to talk, you little..." I can't repeat what she said, since this story is rated T. Even if I moved it up to M, I'd still get a visit from the FAA.

"Seriously, what just happened?" I asked, looking over at Bella.

She was trudging down the path to the left of the one that May had taken, her only source of light being the moon that hung overhead. The red wings of her Latias costume bounced behind her as she walked. "Long story." Bella stomped out of sight, leaving me and Brendan standing around.

Brendan started to go after May, but I grabbed his arm. "Don't," I told him, "just let her go and cool off. Once she's calm, we'll see if we can get to the bottom of this, and then fix it."

"I guess you're right," he said, nodding. "So, I guess we need to get out of here?"

"Well, duh."

"I'm hungry," Flamo complained. "I need beef. It's like my life source..." She sighed and drooped her head. "I'm suffering from withdraws."

Phil rolled his eyes. "Gee, can't you go five minutes without mentioning that horrid object, please?"

"Not you two too," I groaned. "We've already had too many arguements here." They shot each malacious looks, and then kept walking. "Well, we're lost."

"Well, duh," Brendan said. "If it comes down to it, we can just charge through the middle of the corn stalks, going straight until we reach the exit."

"Or the beginning if we go the wrong way," I pointed out. "But, just as long as we get out."

I glanced up at the sky, taking in the beauty of the night. The stars twinkled in the dark sky, and I found it hard to imagine that they were millions of miles away. Each one of them was far larger than Earth, and yet, here the appeared as specks.

The silhouettes of the forest could be seen in the distance, if you could see past the silhouttes of the city. The skyscrapers stood tall, with the Devon building reaching higher than al the others.

Beneath us, the path was marked with the footprints of the others who had passed through here, mainly the people who had made this maze. The endless rows of corn stalks started to become a monotous sight.

"I think it'll be awhile before I eat corn again," Brendan muttered, pushing a fallen stalk to the side. "There's not going to be a food storage in this city anytime soon."

I smiled at the remark, but the grin faded as I realized that we were still lost.

An inhuman screech exploded out of the corn stalks, and a figure tackled Brendan to the ground. It scared the crap outta the two of us, and I still hadn't had time to react when a seconds figure jumped me.

Phil was on his back, apparently struggling to get upright, with his stubby little legs squirming in the air. Under his water lily, there was a trembling bulge. Flamo.

I struggled with the figure on top of me, eventually managing to shove them off. The figures screams turned into laughter as the attackers took off their zombie masks.

They were Bella and May.

"Well," I said, recovering from the shock. "You two seemed to have patched things up."

Bella laughed some more. "That was all an act to get away from the two of you," she explained. "We've been planning this all day."

I shot a look a Brendan. He sighed and leaned back on the ground. "Good one," he admitted. "As soon as my heart continues beating, we'll get out of here."

Groaning, I stood up, and held my hand out to help Brendan up. "We'll get them back," I whispered to him. He gave a wicked grin, and the four of us continued our trek through the maze.

* * *

The black Charizard flapped his wings, flying low over the trees of the forest. He was on a mission, a mission to wipe out a Skitty.

That one Skitty had nearly destroyed all he had worked toward. In one fell swoop. He couldn't allow that.

His eyes were glowing blood red as he silently glided over a corn maze. It happened to hold his one true enemy in it, but at the moment, that was the last of the Charizard's worries.

The Charizard, who referred to himself as the Grim Reaper, was not your ordinary shiny Charizard. He contained powers had once put Darkrai to shame. The Grim Reaper had beaten him without taking a hit.

But yet, this Skitty was far more deadly to him than even Arceus himself. It knew the truth. It couldn't let the truth get out. The truth was meant to be concealed until the right time.

Even if that meant people had to die...


	6. One Down

_Chapter Six: One Down_

"Okay, we got this," I told Flamo and Phil, hoping to inspire courage into them. Naturally, that horribly failed, since I really wasn't all that hopeful myself.

We were standing at the Gym doors, hesistating about going in for the second attempt. Since we were at the giant Halloween party last night, I hadn't gotten much sleep. Nor was I able to train either of my Pokemon. But, three coffees each later, here we were.

"Dude, she's going to kick our butts again," Phil said, turning away from the building. "We should just skip her for now, and come back when we've evolved. Then we can definitely win."

I sighed. "Seriously. We need to be more omptimisic. Being pessimistic is not going to help us win the the Hoenn League," I explained, crouching down and picking Phil up. "Just be positive, believe in yourself, and you'll do fine."

"If I fail, then can I blame it on you for being a bad trainer?" he asked, smirking. "After all, the trainer does half the work."

"Yeah, fine," I replied, mentally cursing myself for that. Sooner or later, that was going to come back to bite me in the butt.

Phil smiled at the response, mind thinking of every possible thing he could get away with by blaming me. I set him back on the ground. "Just don't expect to be using that excuse too often." That killed it.

"May I ask why you're doing this League challenge thing?" Flamo questioned, looking up at me. "Why did you even become a trainer?"

That was a thinker. Why did I become a trainer? Why? My mind sought an answer, but it knew none. I scoured the very depths of my mind, but nothing came to me. "Hm...that's a good question," I said, rubbing my chin as I thought. Suddenly, a flashback played, completely unlike the vision things where I had back at the resturant in Petalburg and the diner in Oldale.

_"Why do you want to become a trainer, Trevor? It's a long and hard road, and chances are you won't even amount to much success."_

_"Gee, thanks for you vote of confidence. But, I want to travel. To see the world. To hopefully become Sinnoh's Champion someday. That's why. For the wonders of travelling. To discover something about myself."_

_"But what about me? I suck at training, I'm more of a coordinator. Would you leave here just knowing that that would leave me unhappy?"_

_"What are you getting at?"_

_"Nothing. But if we want to get to Jubilfe City before night, we should go now."_

_"We?"_

_"Can't I come with you?"_

_"Why not? It'd get boring go solo."_

I snapped out of it when I felt a sharp pinch on my hand. When I looked down, Flamo was biting my hand. "It's about time you rejoined the world. You're rival's here."

"Wha...?" That's when I saw him. It was Butch, that jerk with the Abra and Munchlax. "Oh, great. This is friggin' perfect." I stood up, shaking Flamo off my hand. Butch was walking over, with his 20+ groupees following right behind him.

"Well well well," Butch said, tossing one of his Pokeballs up and down in his hand. "If it isn't that guy I beat a while back. Nice to see you again." The groupees laughed. They really were jerks.

I adopted a realitively neautral face, and fold my arms. "Yeah, I remember you," I said, trying to play it cool. "You're also here to get the badge from Roxanne?"

Butch nodded. "Why else would I be heading to the Gym? Seriously, you can be so dense." His followers laughed, and he continued. "I heard of your match with her earlier. Shame you lost. But, it was rather expected, wasn't it?"

The group laughed again, as if they thought almost every insult he made was funny. "Maybe," I said, shrugging. "But, we now know what we're going up against, so we can prepare to beat her next time."

"You'll lose again," Butch said. "You think that you'll actually make it to the Pokemon League? You'll fail before you get your forth badge. You'll have to leave Hoenn with three badges, and a load of shame."

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter if I win or lose at the Pokemon League," I told him. "But I will make it there, and that's all that matters. Winning or losing, there's nothing wrong with either. If I am to lose, then I learn from what I did wrong. Failing isn't bad. Sometimes, it's better than winning."

There was an odd silence around, but then Butch broke it with a loud fit of laughter. "That's the saddest thing I've heard! Winning is the point. Losing is for the weak, like you!"

"Everyone who was great started out weak," I said. "Every Champion has faced defeat. No one has a perfect record of no losses. Losing is a part of learning."

"Oh shut up and battle me!" Butch shouted. "I'll beat you anyday of the week." He held up the one Pokeball he had in his hand. "One on one, first knocked out loses."

I nodded, and stared down at my two Pokemon. Flamo would help if the Munchlax was used, since she knew Growl, which would lower it's attack. Phil would be effective against Abra, since he knew Astonish. Biting my lip, I knew whatever choice I used wasn't going to mean a total loss. I could work something out.

"Flamo, you're up," I said finally. Flamo shrugged and hopped forward, ruffling some of her feathers. She seemed rather unconfident that she would win, and I think that was the reason that she hardly won battles. She'd tied with Brendan's Treeko, won against a few trainers before, but nothing major.

Butch smirked. "Torchic, again?" he asked, tossing his Pokeball. "Then I'll use Glut." He tossed out the fat little Pokemon, and Flamo once again reffered to the Munchlax as 'that fatty.'

"You want the first move?" I asked, "or should I take it?"

Butch nodded. "You take it. You'll need it." They crowd was cheering for him, with some even holding up cardboard signs. Seriously, how does a guy get a set-up like that? I could use one.

"Flamo, use Ember!" I ordered. My Torchic spat out some weak embers, but only two or three actually hit the Munchlax, causing minimum damage.

Glut looked down at the small scorch marks on his round belly, and shrugged. "Use Scratch!" Butch shouted, arms folded across his chest.

The Munchlax slowly ran up and lashed its claws out at Flamo. "Dodge!" I yelled, but Flamo didn't succeed. She was slashed with the claws of the fatty. Squeezing her eyes shut, she endured the pain. Maybe this Munchlax was too strong for her.

"I can't do this!" Flamo shouted, voice wavering. "I try, but everyone's always stronger than me. I can't keep going!"

"Flamo," I said in a parently voice. "It doesn't matter. All you have to do is try your best. If you fail, then it's okay. Life's like that."

She blinked. "You sound like one of those lame kid shows," she said. "I'm just getting tired of getting my ass kicked. Perhaps, if you had a decent plan, then I might be more, as you would say, optimistic."

"Then, use Growl again," I commanded, new strategy forming in my head. Simply lower Glut's attack to buy more time to hit it with attacks. That would have to work.

Flamo let out a weak, somewhat cute growl. Glut simply stood there, brushing off the fact that his attack had just been lowered.

"Use Scratch again!" Butch ordered, pointing at Flamo. Glut gave the slightest of smiles as he ran up to Flamo, as best he could being that fat, and swung out with his sharp claws. Flamo ducked under, and jumped over Glut's follow through. She spat embers onto his face, causing the Munchlax to cry out in pain as he retreated back to his side of the field.

Butch shrugged. "Lucky shot, kid," he said. "I'll still beat you."

I didn't reply. I didn't care to. "Flamo, use Growl again!" My Torchic once again growled in a cute, little voice. Glut also seemed to shrug it off.

"Glut, use Rollout!" Butch shouted. Okay, that was not a good thing. Glut curled up into a ball and began rolling at a high speed at Flamo.

"Flamo, jump over it!" Flamo hesistated for a second, but then leaped up into the air. The rolling Munchlax seemed to arc upward, and slammed into Flamo anyway.

She cried out in pain as she fell to the ground several feet away, fighting to stay conscious. Flamo stood up, but staggered to the side as she walked back over. There were scrapes and bruises covering her orange body, and I was honestly thinking of pulling her out of the fight.

"Now, use Scratch!" I ordered, and Flamo ran toward Glut, slightly weaving from side to side. It was easy to assume that she wasn't going to win if this attack didn't knock out the Munchlax. She scratched Glut with her beak, but Glut simply smacked her down with his hand. Flamo weakly attempted to get up, but failed.

Seconds passed, each one more intense then the last. Flamo didn't get up. She remained on the ground, out cold. Butch's smiled wided as he saw his victory. "I told you I would beat you," he remarked, returning his Munchlax to its Pokeball. "You should just give up on training, and stick to latrine duty."

His group roared in laughter as they left, Butch leading them. Cursing him under my breath, I returned Flamo to her Pokeball. "That asswipe," I muttered, kicking a nearby lamppost. Not my smartest idea. Sharp pain shot up my foot, and I cursed again, hopping around on one foot while holding my injured foot.

"Well, so much for your whole 'losing is good' speech," Phil commented, watching the scene. "You still think that you can beat Gym person?"

Shrugging, I let my foot go. "I don't know," I said, looking at the Gym. "I just really thought I could beat him, but I couldn't. Just like I really thought I could beat Roxanne on my first try." I sighed, leaning against the lamppost I had assaulted. "Maybe I shouldn't even bother. All that crap I said earlier, it was just that. Crap."

"Is that how you really feel?" a voice asked. I looked over and saw the platinum moped guy from the forest. He adjusted the monicule over his right eye, and brushed out the wrinkles in his platinum suit. "I thought what you said made perfect sense."

I scoffed. "Please. Everyone thinks that they're better than they actually are. I'm like that. I really thought I might've had a shot at the Leauge, but...now..." I trailed off. Why was I beginning to doubt myself now? I had made it three badges into the Unova Leauge.

The man continued. "How come you doubt what you say yourself, and believe what others say? How do you know they're right? Don't you trust yourself more than them?"

"Well..."

"If you don't trust even yourself, how do you expect to succeed?" he asked. "You can't. What I'm saying is that you shouldn't give up on your dreams, to beat the Leauge Elite Four, to beat all the Gyms, whatever, you can't ever give up because someone else says you can't do it. You know that you can do it. I know you can."

"Well..."

"I'm not finished," he said. "I once knew a trainer, who lived through a hard life. He saw his girlfriend killed, even though they'd had an arguement and broken up, he was torn up. So, he ran from his problems. One of his friends was then injured...and, well, he'd almost given up at that point. But, he fought it out, and in the end, he accomplished what he set out to do. So, don't give up."

The man took a few steps forward, and looked back. "What you need to do is wake up. Wake up to the fact that you control your life. Don't let others get into you head and control you."

He walked off, and faded into the crowd. I knew what he said was true. "Well, Phil, why don't we take on Roxanne again?"

Phil yawned. "Eh, why not? After all that guy said, we can't go wrong. Never mind, I think we could..." He trailed off, thinking. "Yeah, we should try again. Like you both said, if we lose, we lose."

"That's the spirit," I praised, walking in the direction of the Pokemon Center. "Come on, let's get our little fire chicken in full health, and we'll be ready."

Twenty minutes later, I walked through the Gym doors, Phil resting in my arms. Releasing a sigh, I went over to the receptionist. "We're here to face Roxanne, again."

She nodded. "Well, she's facing another challenger at the moment, so you'll have to wait," she informed me, in her same monotonous tone as last time. "Please wait over there." She pointed at a group of chairs, with a table in the middle piled high with magazines.

90% of them were those irritating celebrity gossip magazines, and I tossed them aside as I dug through the pile. I could pretty much assume that there wasn't going to be anything good to read. And, I was right.

After spending several minutes of hopeless hunting, I sighed in defeat, and leaned back in my chair. The lobby was filled with trainers, most of them watching the match through a window overlooking the arena. Judging from the fact that some had badges pinned on their shirts and the jealous glanced sthat they got from the trainers who didn't have one, I guessed that they all had already battle, and there wasn't going to be a long waiting line for me.

Fortunately, I was right. Apparently, I was to be Roxanne's last battle of the day, even though it's not even noon yet. Releasing a sigh of impatience, I fidgeted with the buttons on my jacket.

The person battling Roxanne had the advantage, since they had a Mudkip. He had taken out her other Geodude, and was working to take down her new Graveler. Niether of the two were getting very far, and the battle dragged on and on. An hour later, they both were still up and fighting.

"Boredom is boring," Phil stated, trying to sleep on the ground.

Flamo was ticked off, since she had nothing to do. "Well, thank you Captain Obvious," she remarked, closing her eyes as she too attempted to get some shut eye.

"You're welcome, Captain Sarcasm," Phil retorted, not even opening her eyes to see her reaction.

I rolled my eyes. "Please don't start arguing," I pleaded, rubbing my temples. "I have a headache, and I don't want it to get any worse."

"Right," Phil said, "and the sounds of our upcoming battle won't make it worse?"

"Just...never mind. I need quiet."

The universe has a way of screwing with people's lives. To give an example, right as I said I need quiet, the trainers watching the battle suddenly burst into applause. There was cheering and screaming, and a quick glance through the window revealed that Roxanne's Graveler had fallen. I groaned, covering my ears with my hands as I tried to block out the noise. Massive failure.

"A classic example of irony," Flamo noted, jumping up onto the vacant chair next to me. "So, I guess we're up next?"

Nodding, I stood up. "Yeah, but I doubt that you'll see much action this time around. Phil's Absorb is really our best chance." Phil beamed a smile, while Flamo kicked him.

"He's not all that important," she said, "after all, I am the badass in the group."

Phil scoffed. "If you look up 'arrogant idiot' in the dictionary, you'll see Flamo's picture."

"And if you look up 'dirty trash can full of poop', you'll see your picture," she snapped back, "and you can find it under motherfu-"

I returned the two of them to their Pokeballs. "Since when did they hate each other?" I wondered, popping my knuckles. It was almost time for my Gym battle, and I had no intention of losing this time.

The winning challenger exited the arena, and his friends mobbed him. I simply watched as they congradulated him, patted him on the back, and then shoved him out the door, following him as he led them to his place of celebration.

"You next?" the receptionist asked, not looking up from her computer. She was playing poker online, and had a horrible hand.

"Yep."

"Then just go in and beat her so I can go home and get away from this dump." Gee, someone hated their job.

I entered the arena, noting the same old rocks and the same old dirt. Roxanne was on her perch, calmly applying potions to her wounded Pokemon. "I see you back for a rematch," she said, glancing up as I came in. "I'm afraid it's going to have to wait, though."

"Why?" I asked, mentally groaning. All that waiting just to get told I'd have to wait some more.

She shrugged, tossing an empty potion aside. "Graveler and Geodude are still tired from their loss," Roxanne explained, returning the two to their Pokeballs. "They need to get some rest before they can fight."

This time, I groaned aloud. Then, I noticed her third Pokemon. "You still have that last one," I said, pointing at it. "It'll be a one-on-one."

Roxanne hesistated. "I don't know. It's getting late, and I have to go on a field trip with my class..."

"There's plenty of time for either of us to get our asses kicked," I insisted. "It shouldn't take a long time."

"Well, then...okay," she agreed, removing her Pokeball and tossing it. "If this won't take long," she added as her Nosepass materialized on ther field.

I ran over to the mat for the challengers to stand on, and tossed out Phil's ball. "Don't worry Phil, you can win this time," I said to encourage him.

"Of coure I can," he said, "after all, it's only a giant rock with a nose."

"Challenger goes first," Roxanne reminded me.

"Absorb!" I shouted to my Lotad. This move was our only hope. Small green orbs were sucked out of Nosepass, and absorbed by Phil. Nosepass barely flinched from the attack, with her only reaction being a slight backstep.

"Thundershock!" Roxanne ordered, as her Pokemon shot a weak pulse of electric energy at Phil. My Lotad gave a weak attempt at dodging, simplying jumping into the air, but failed to miss the attack.

He was knocked back several feet, coming to a rolling stop. Smoke rose from his charred body. "I'm okay," he said, running back over to his position. "My Grass-Type side weakened most of the damage."

"You know the drill; Absorb!"

Nosepass staggered as her energy was drained, but she was still holding strong. "Nosepass, try a Rock Throw!" Rocks rose from the ground, and Nosepass sent them hurtling towards Phil. They struck at a high rate of speed, and Phil was knocked onto his back.

With a soft growl of rage, he flipped himself up right and shook of the pain. "Let me guess, Absorb again?"

I nodded. "Absorb."

Roxanne smirked as her Pokemon's health was drained. "You'll have to do better than that," she taunted. "Thundershock!" Another bolt of lightning shot out at Phil, except this time he managed to dodge it by jumping to the left.

She was right; we were going to have to do better. Her Nosepass was dishing out damage while Phil was barely able keep himself alive. We needed something to beat.

My mind raced to analyze the match. Roxanne was making no attempt of making her Nosepass dodge our attacks, so that might've meant that she thought that her Pokemon was a juggernaut, or that we had no chance. Phil didn't know a Water move, so we were limited to Absorb. Since Rock-Types were generally heavy, they couldn't move very fast. Meaning that it might take them some time to turn...

"Phil, starting running in circles around it," I ordered. With a questioning look, he obeyed. Nosepass was turning fast enough to keep up with the little Lotad, much to my dismay. But, one can still pull a win out of nowhere. "Absorb!"

Green glowing spheres were sucked into Phil, restoring some health. I was tense. We were close. So close to winning. I could feel it. We couldn't screw up now.

"Use Thundershock, but aim a little bit in front of him," Roxanne ordered Nosepass, who did so.

Phil skidded to a stop a few feet away, gritting his teeth. "I don't think I can take much more of this," he informed me.

I nodded, slightly losing hope. Trying to go faster than it wasn't going to work. It might've been heavy, but it wasn't heavy enough for that to work. Maybe...

"Combine Absorb with Tackle."

"What?" Phil asked, glancing over at me. "You actually want me to get close to that thing?"

"Just do it. Aim for its head."

Shrugging, Phil took off running, kicking up dirt as he went. He lept into the air and used Absorb while flying at the Nosepass. It shook a little bit from the consecutive hits on it, but remained standing. Then Phil slammed into it with Tackle.

Both Pokemon fell to the ground. Nosepass fell with a large thud, a giant falling to a Lotad David. Only Phil was able to get back on his feet. The weight of Nosepass' body made it almost impossible for it to stand back up. It struggled on the ground, desprate to get up.

Roxanne's smirk faded when she realized this. "Checkmate," I said, in the same arrogant tone that Flamo loved to use. "Phil, use Absorb until it's out."

Roxanne waved her hand. "No need," she said. "I concede. You win." She returned Nosepass to its Pokeball, and dug a small, shiny object out of her pocket. "I award you the Stone Badge." Roxanne tossed it over to me.

I caught it, and admired it. A smile came to my face. This made one. "Phil," I crouched down and he ran over to me. "You did well," I praised him. His proud smile stretched from cheek to cheek. "Now, get some rest. We'll be celebrating later." I returned him to his ball and stood up.

With a wave to Roxanne, I left. I pinned my new badge to my jacket, just above the left breast pocket. "One down."


	7. The Pirate Strikes Again

_Chapter Seven: The Pirate Strikes Again_

**_A/N: This is the longest chapter for any of my stories at 6,457 words. _**

I stared down at the badge pinned to my jacket, barely able to contain the joy welling up within me. I felt like the king of the world, ready to take on anything by myself. Yeah, that's what it's like to win a badge.

I walked back into the lobby, idoitic smile plastered to my face. The receptionist was gone, and the room was empty. Appreantly, I was the only person in here at the time.

There was an eerie calm in the room, no noise what-so-ever. The muffled sounds of the city could barely be heard through the thick glass windows. I shoved my hands into my pockets, and stared out at Rustburo City.

People were bustling about, heading to lunch or arriving late at work. Cars honked at idiotic drivers, disregarding the fact that the people behind them were honking at them.

The sun was high in the sky, assaulting Rustburo City with an intense wave of heat. Shimmers of heat were rising from the asphalt. I was a little unhappy since I had to go out into this inferno, but I simply removed my jacket and threw it on my shoulder. I still had my black tee-shirt on under it, and I sighed, know that it would trap heat in, so I would still fry.

Several seconds later, I found myself pushing through the crowds, trying to get back to the Pokemon Center. "If Rustburo is this crowded," I muttered, sidestepping a fat guy, "I'd hate to see Slateport or Lilycove."

The streets were a lot more crowded at this time since people were in a rush to get lunch. I stopped at a small appliance store, and seeing how it was almost empty, I figured that it would make a nice place to hide out until the crowds died down.

I felt a relieving rush of cool air as I opened the door and stepped inside. There were rows of computers, fridges, washers and dryers, chairs, and most importantly, TVs. "Hope there's something good on," I said to myself, and walked over.

There were rows of flat screens, each on tuned to a seperate channel. At least I had a selection. A bench was convienitly placed infront of them, so I sat down. All of the televisions were muted, and there were subtitles on the screens.

After perusing the choices, my eyes settled on the TV in the lower left corner. On it was a girl washing dishes, and she looked exhausted. Her long navy hair looked messy from inattention, her eyes were ringed with red, signaling sleep loss. She looked to be about my age.

She grunted as she bore down on a plate, using a washcloth to clean the food stuck to it. After several seconds of this, she sighed and set the plate in the sink in front of her. The more I looked at her face, the more I swore it was familiar.

The scene cut to two other girls, peering in from behind a door on the opposite side of the room.

_"Why is she working herself to the bone like that?" _one asked. I had to read the subtitles, which were offtimed, so the scene played ahead of the text. _"She has like, three jobs."_

_"Her boyfriend is in a coma," _the other answered. _"They were going to take him off of life support since he showed no signs of recovery after nine months. She's working to pay for it all."_

_"She must really be dedicated."_

_"Yeah."_

The TV then filled with static, leaving me staring at the snowstorm on the screen. The whole thing seemed...familiar, for a lack of better words. I knew for a fact that I knew the girl washing the dishes, but...I couldn't place it.

"Ah, screw it," I muttered, deciding to think about all of this later, and I glanced over at a battle channel. Someone was challenging the Kanto Leauge, and so far, Bruno was kicking his butt. The kid's Snorlax fell from a Close Combat launced from Bruno's Hitmonchan, sealing the kid's fate as another who tried and failed.

I thought about my own Leauge challenge, and how well that was going. I had four wins, three losses, and three ties. Not bad, for someone just starting out.

_You're not just starting out, _the voice in my head reminded me.

I groaned. "How screwed up is my life? I've had flashbacks that I don't even remember, I have these wierd visions that I have no clue as to what the mean, I have this voice in my head, and this person that I've never seen before seems familiar. What next? I wake up from a coma and find out that everything I ever knew was a dream like in that movie I saw?"

_Wow, chill bro. Everything will play out in time. You'll overcome your amnesia/mental insanity. Just give it time._

"Fine," I said, completely unaware that I was talking aloud to myself. "But one question, and answer honestly. Are you Voi?"

Seconds passed by without a response. I shrugged and stood up, figuring that the voice had ditched me again. Walking to the exit of the store, I got a surprise.

_To be blunt, yes and no._

"Um...what? Can you please put that in English?"

_Like I said, give it time. Now, the reason I'm here. I've been with you since...a while now, and I've been studying your actions. Can you explain to me why you left Orre right in the middle of the Shadow Pokemon crisis? That's a little rude to your friends._

Pushing the door open and returning to the streets, I was glad that there were considerably less people, but irritated at Voi's question. "Well," I said, resuming my course for the Pokemon Center, "I was having a hard time dealing with reality. Zen had just been killed," I paused, remembering my fallen Darumaka, "and I was stuck with amnesia."

_So, the main reason was because of Dawn, wasn't it?_

I blinked. That was something I have never told anyone. How the hell did he...oh wait, he was in my mind. "Yeah," I said, find that admitting the truth was better than having to argue. "She hated me, and..."

_...you couldn't deal with that, alongside the fact that David had asked her out, so you ran away. You ran away from you problems, and left you Pokemon with your friends, who now hate you for abandoning them in their time of need._

Well, when he put it that way, it made me sound like a cold-hearted bitch.

"You wouldn't know what it's like," I replied in my defense. "You've never had amnesia."

_Maybe not, but you're in a rather...interesting predicament._

"What?"

_Yeah, what's happening to you is the first of its kind. Never been done before. I have to admit, I admire that son of a bitch for this._

"What are you talking about? Tell me right now!" He didn't reply. I waited, hoping that he would reply out of nowhere, but it never happened. Emitting a quiet growl of rage, I kicked another lamp post, only to have the same results as last time.

I hopped on one foot, holding the other in my hands as I howled in pain. Some jerk laughed as he passed by, while no one else even seemed to notice. As soon as the throbbing pain died down, I continued my trek to the Center.

My life was messed up. There was no organization to it. Flashbacks, visions, voices, and I was pretty positive that that wasn't the end of it. There was regret that I had for leaving my cohorts in Orre. Maybe I could call them up to see how they were doing...Nah, I'll do that later.

* * *

The orange roof of the Pokémon Center was easily observable in the sky, standing out from the drab gray and tan of the buildings around it. The automatic door slid away as I approached, and I headed for my room. Room 117.

Walking down the hall of rooms, I noticed May staring oddly at the door to room 117. "Um, what's up?" I asked, studying the door, trying to find what she was staring at. "Interesting door."

She tapped the metal panel that held the door number. "Remember the room I got you back in Petalburg? The one that we never got to use? It was also room 117. Strange, huh?" She brushed a lock of her brunette hair behind her ear, still looking at the number.

"Completely," I replied, digging around in my pocket for the key. "I'm sure that it happened to someone somewhere else at some other time, though."

"Yeah," May replied, "but it's still kinda creepy. Like one of those thriller novels, where the number is really important to the main character, although he doesn't know it, so the number keeps popping up."

"...yeah," I said, completely at a loss of what she said. I slid the key into the electronic lock, only for May to grab my hand and pull it away. "What was that for?"

She smiled. "We don't have time to lollygag," May said, dragging me down that hall. "Brendan, Bella, and I have planned something for you. They're waiting for us at the police station."

I rolled my eyes. "Why? What happened? How much money do they need for bail?" I had been arrested once, back in Orre. That was really interesting.

May shook her head as we walked out into the lobby. "They didn't get arrested, we've just got a surprise for you."

"Great," I muttered. "Can I at least heal my Pokémon first?" I asked, gesturing to the counter with the really bored looking Nurse Joy behind it. "I want them to be rested in case someone challenges us."

May shot a look at her watch. "Yeah, but hurry. We need to be there in five minutes."

I handed my Pokeballs to Nurse Joy, who released a depressed sigh as she took them. "What is this all about?" I asked May, turning to her. "I need to know."

"Nope," she answered. "It's a secret. But it'll help with you amnesia." She said it right out loud, completely ignoring the fact that we were in public. I mean, I don't really care who knows about it, but I'd kinda like to keep it to myself. "Oh, sorry," she quickly added, when she realized that 98% of the lobby was looking at us. The other 2% were zonked out in the chairs.

I waved my hand to dismiss it, and took my Pokémon back from the Nurse. "Well, let's go. I don't want to be late for this 'surprise.'"

"I know you'll like it," May smirked, leading me outside. "It's just across the street."

But, as fate would have it, a man wearing a pirate suit came running down the street, knocking down several innocent bystanders in his full out charge for route 116. There was a suitcase in his hand.

"That's the same guy as last time!" I exclaimed, breaking off into a run after him, dodging people. He was far ahead of me, but I had to try anyway. After all, he was stealing the same suitcase again.

"What's going on?" May asked, as she ran along side me. "Why are you going after him?"

"He stole some dude's suitcase," I explained. "I met this dude once back in Petalburg Woods, and he snatched the case from someone, and Bella and I chased him down and got it back."

"And where was I when this happened?"

"You and Brendan had already run off on your own," I said, jumping to the left to avoid a mother pushing a stroller. "You ditched us in the woods, remember?" The pirate climbed over a chain-link fence, but I jumped up on a bench, then onto a trash can, and then over the fence, getting me closer to him.

May simply unlatched the gate and went through, lagging behind the two of us. We by passed the Gym, and the thief made it out into the grassy lands of route 116. "Can I ask one question?" May shouted as she caught up with me.

"What?"

"Why are we chasing him again? Can't we leave it to the cops?"

"Well..."

"After all, he might have a gun. Or a knife. Or some other brutal weapon to kill us with. He'll dump our bodies into a river, and no one will find us until we're nothing but a pile of bones! I'm too young to die!"

I shot her a quick look. That escalated quickly. And she obviously wasn't screwing her courage to the sticking place. "May, he doesn't have a gun. I'm pretty sure of-"

A gunshot rang out. May screamed and dove behind a tree, while I dolphin-dived to the ground, landing hard on my chest. The pirate was speed-walking backwards, pistol in his hand.

He fired three more shots, all missing me. Then he turned around and continued running. The dude in the green suit was now following us, with four police officers at his side. Each of them had their own pistols out.

I jumped up. "Come on," I said to May, who simply shook her head from behind her safety tree. "There's cops here now, it's safe." She still shook her head. "Fine."

The cops were now standing their ground, the man in green cowering behind them. The pirate was backing away slowly, holding a Wingull by the wing in one hand in front of his chest, and pointing his gun at it with the other.

"Come any closer, and this bird gets it," He told the cops. There was an old man on his knees to the side, reaching out toward the Wingull. The pirate simply kicked him in the chest, causing him to double over and fall to the ground.

"Give it up," one of the officers ordered. "You're out numbered, and you're backing yourself into a dead end. Just give it up now, before this gets anymore serious."

The pirate ignored him, and continued backing up. The old man coughed and tried to stand up, but fell back down.

"I'm going to ask one more time," the cop said, keeping the pirate in his sights. The others had their pistols leveled at him, ready to fire when needed. "Give it up, or we'll open fire."

Sputtering in protest, the old man tried to stand up again. "Please don't shoot me darlin' Peeko," he pleaded. "Please don't shoot 'er."

Smirking, the pirate continued to back away. As long as he had a hostage, then he would be able to escape with the stolen suitcase. "You're all going to stay right where you are," he said, taking another cautious step back, "or I'll blow this bird brains out."

That's when he recieved the most unexpected kick to the head.

He stumbled to the ground, dropping his gun. The Wingull managed to wrench herself from his grasp, and flew over to the old man. His wrinkled face instantly lit up when the bird wrapped her wings around him in a form of a hug.

The cops moved in, and had the pirate in handcuffs within seconds. He grumbled as they escorted him over to the police cars waiting several yards back. One officer picked up the pirate's revolver with a handkerchief covering his hand, and put it into a plastic bag.

The savior stood by, calmly watching the scene. "That went well," the Combusken commented, dropping his arms to his sides. "How did I do, Miss Ashlyn?" he asked, looking over at a teenaged girl running up to him.

"That was good, KFC," the trainer praised. She looked to be a year younger than me, with light brown hair. She was wearing a pink woolen jacket, with dark baggy jeans. Returning the Combusken to its ball, she walked by me, heading for Rustburo.

"That was awesome," I said when she passed.

She looked up. "Thanks, I'm naturally good at saving the day." She glanced down and saw the Pokeballs on my belt. "So, you're a trainer too, huh. I'm Ashlyn. Ashlyn White."

I raised my eyebrows at that last part. "White?" I asked, shaking her hand. "We have the same last name. I'm Trevor White."

Ashlyn just shrugged. "Happy coincidence. Anyway, I need to get going. I need to get my second badge!" She sprinted off, leaving me standing there.

May was still cowering behind her tree. "You can come out," I said. "It's all over. No one got shot or anything."

She peeked her head out, and looked around. Slowly May walked out, and began heading back to Rustburo. I ran over to her. "You seem a little...detached," I told her, noting how she wasn't speaking or doing anything other than walking.

"That just scared me," May said, staring off into the distance. "I mean, either one of us could've been killed, and now you're going on as if nothing had happened."

She had a point there. "Well," I started, sticking my hands into my jeans pockets, "truthfully, that wasn't the first time I've been shot at."

May looked at me with a look of surprised curiosity. "Really?"

"Yep. Back when I was in Orre, I was working as a waiter at some restaurant. My boss was Mr. Carnem, I think. Great guy. Anyway, six men walked in with guns and let loose on the people in there. I think three people were killed, and over twenty were wounded," I told her, thinking back at the memory. Dawn had been shot six times, and somehow managed to live.

Apparently, May caught my inattentive look. "Someone close to you?" she asked, mentally praying that she hadn't asked something too personal.

"Yeah, but she's fine now," I replied, still lost in my thoughts. "But for those few days, we all experienced this feeling. That we never knew what was going to happen."

"Trust me, I know that feeling. I felt it right before I went out with Brendan," May said, giving me a calm smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, but life or death hanging in the balance?"

She sighed. "Well, not really."

"So," I said, changing from the downer of a topic. "How did you date with Brendan go?"

"Isn't that a little personal?" May retorted, folding her arms. "What happens on my dates is between me and the other person."

"I thought'd I'd asked, since Brendan kept me up all night worrying that he'd done something wrong, and went on this whole long rant that ended with you killing him because he forgot to bring the bacon home."

"...what?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. I was trying to sleep." There was a short silence between the two of us. "So, about this surprise..."

"We're going now," May told me. "In fact, we're there." She pointed at the building just across the street. It was a large gray stone building, with the words "Rustburo City Police Station" emboldened on it.

The interior of the station was far different from the one I had been in back in Orre when I had been arrested. There were rows of desks, each with someone typing away at computers. In the back were the offices, and there was the door the led to the cells beyond that.

"Hey," Brendan said, standing up from the chair he was waiting in. Bella was snoozing in the seat next to him. "We've been waiting for over an hour."

"We got held up," May explained, before going into the details. "This dude stole someone's suitcase, and we went after him. So yeah, we're late."

Brendan simply nodded. "Yeah...okay then." He shook Bella on the shoulder, and she instantly jumped up, wide awake. "She's had four cups of coffee since we've been here," Brendan told us, which explained her trembling hands.

"It's this way," Brendan said, leading us to a room marked "DNA Lab" in the very back of the station.

"Ah," I said, "I know what you're up to. Doing a DNA test to see who I'm related to. Clever."

"Yeah," Brendan said. "Bella thought of it after watching an episode of Cops."

"Oh my gosh!" Bella exclaimed, still high on her sugar. "WhenIsawthatIwasalllikethat'llneverwork!AndthenIw aslikemaybeitwill! Theywerewillingtodoit!Ohmygoshthiswillbefun!"

Her words ran together, and it took a few seconds for us to put what she had said together. When entered the lab. There were machines and computer screens everywhere, and that sterile smell was in the air. A man in a lab coat was staring down into a microscope, mumbling something about damned chromosomes.

"Um...Dr. Prector?" Brendan asked, staring at the man.

"Yes?" Prector said, looking up. "Oh, you must be those kids wanting help with this amnesia problem," he said.

"Yeah," Brendan confirmed. "So, what do we need to do?"

"Well first," Prector said, "who is the one with the condition?"

Slowly, I stepped forward, avoiding eye contact. "Me," I said, quietly. I was rather...unenthusiastic about the amnesia.

"Okay then," Prector reached over with a syringe, and looked it over. "Can you hold out your arm, and roll up you sleeve. I need to take a blood sample."

I did as he instructed, and he jabbed me with the needle, and I watched as my blood was drawn up into the syringe. "This is the newest test model for blood samples," Prector explained. "While it simply looks like a syringe, it's actually specially designed for taking samples. What it does..."

_I don't care, _I thought as he droned on, taking the syringe from my arm and putting the sample into a vial.

"That's all," he said. "It'll take a week or two before I can get the results, so I'll need some info to contact you."

Brendan wrote his number down on a scrap piece of paper, and an email address, and handed it to Prector. "Thanks," the doctor said, "You all can go now." He went back to peering through the microscope as we left.

* * *

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" May asked, as our group walked back out into the streets of Rustburo. Well, Bella was skipping and jumping around, so it was just the three of us that were walking.

"Not really," I replied. "Other than feeling lightheaded, I'm fine."

"Well then," Brendan said, "Onward to Dewford!"

"Actually, I needed to get some supplies before we leave," I told him. "I need some things to prepare for Brawley. And a backpack or something to carry all my stuff in."

"And I have to get us checked out of our rooms at the Center," May said. "And Bella needs to take a chill pill." At this point, the individual in question was running around chasing a Beautifly.

"Are you sure that was coffee?" I asked, watching the spectacle.

Brendan shrugged. "I hope so. Anyway, we'll meet at the Petalburg Woods when we're done, and we'll see if we can't get us a ride to Dewford from the beach."

We all ran off to our destinations. Soon enough, I found myself in the Pokemart.

The first thing I did was get a black backpack, much like the one that I had used Orre. Then I headed over to the training items.

"Hm." I looked between the Potions and the Super Potions. The Super Potions healed more, but I could get more Potions. So, eventually I went with five Potions and three Super Potions.

Next came the Pokeballs. I grabbed a pack of ten normal Pokeballs, and a pack of five Great Balls. Apparently, since this city got a lot of newbie trainers, they didn't carry any of the good stuff.

I grabbed a few Antidotes, since we would have to cross through that forest again, and wasn't taking a risk. If either of my Pokémon got poisoned, I would be ready. Fortunately, I had enough money to pay for all of it. Unfortunately, I used up over 90% of what money I had, so I couldn't contribute much to the charter boat.

Sitting down on a bench just outside the door, I set my bag in front of me, and began to organize my new stuff. Pokeballs went in the very front pocket, with the Potions and Antidotes going in the pocket behind them. Since I had nothing of importance yet, the largest pocket remained empty.

I put five Pokeballs and two Great Balls into my left jacket pocket, and zipped it shut. Trust me, you want to have a stash that's easy to get to in case you see a really rare Pokémon.

Standing up, I slung the backpack onto my back. I took three steps toward Petalburg Woods when I heard someone calling me.

"Hey you! Yeah you! Trainer guy!"

I looked back to see the guy in the green suit running over to me. "Um...can I help you?"

"Yeah," he said, panting. How come ever time I see this guy, he's always running and out of breath. "To thank you for helping me get the suitcase back at Petalburg Woods, my boss at Devon Corp wants to see you."

"Why?"

"Just follow me, if you please."

He led me to a tall business tower, which had to be the tallest building in the whole city. "Mr. Stone is waiting at the top floor," the man said, holding the door open. In the main room, there was a secretary sitting behind a desk, which held samples of various rocks and gems on it. "Mabel," the man said, walking over. "Tell Mr. Stone that I brought the one that he wants to see, and that we're on our way up."

"Yes, Mr. Green," the secretary happily replied, seeming without a care in the world.

"If you could please enter the elevator," Green said, and I followed him. He pushed the button for the top floor. "Mr. Stone runs the company. Here at Devon, we strive to produce the newest innovations in technology. We've made everything from Pokeballs to televisions to computers. We've even made vital parts for the space ships for Mossdeep City."

"Really?" I asked. "And how do you compare with Silph?"

Green sighed. "We don't, really. They always seem to one up us on almost everything. We make a new computer, they make a new one that has a touch screen, better graphics, bigger RAM, and even has voice controls."

"But, in spite of that, you still manage to keep yourself operable," I noted. "That has to count for something."

"Yeah," Green agreed. "We're the main company in Hoenn, but Silph's got Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, and small parts of Kalos under their belt. Apparently, after upgrading Porygon to Porygon2, and then to Porygon-Z, people think they're something special."

I tugged at the straps on my bag. "Well, technologically evolving a Pokémon is a major step for technology."

"If that's the case," Green said, "then Team Rocket trumped us all when they created Mewtwo. They biologically augmented a Pokémon, and I'm sure they would do it again, if they hadn't disbanded."

"Of all the teams out there, Rocket's always the one that comes back," I commented. "How many are there? There's Plasma, Rocket..."

"Galactic," Green added. "And Cipher and Team Snagem."

"I hate Cipher," I told him. "I've ran into them a couple of times. Complete asses. Same with Plasma."

Green shrugged. "Team Galactic had the most notorious plan ever. They were literally about to destroy the known world with Dialga and Palkia, and then that girl came out of no where and stomped them down."

That's when I heard the voices in my head.

_"__Why are you here?"_

_"I was wrong, okay? It happens from time to time."_

_"You did say that you wanted nothing to do with me."_

_"That was then, and this is now. I was wrong about everything."_

_"Now's not really the time, Dawn."_

I snapped back to reality. What had I just heard? It was far more insightful than I ever would've imagined. One of the voices had been mine. I never remembered the conversation, and Dawn didn't know me when I met her in Orre, which meant that...the conversation couldn't have happened...what?

"Are you okay?" Green asked, noticing my befuddled face. "We've reached Mr. Stone's office."

"Yeah, just thinking." I really needed to get something to write these things down in, so I could analyze them later. "Let's meet the president."

Mr. Stone's office was huge. There was a table in the middle of the room for conference meetings, several pedestals containing rare gems and stones were placed around the room, there was the largest flat screen TV I've ever seen mounted on the wall, hooked up to a computer.

Mr. Stone was sitting at his desk, apparently eating his supper of a TV dinner. He was roughly in his late fifties, with brown hair mixing with some gray strands. He was wearing a business suit with the company's label stitched on the right breast pocket. He looked up as we approached.

"Ah, Mr. Green," he greeted. "And that trainer that helped him..." He paused waiting for me to say my name.

"Trevor, Trevor White." I held my hand out, and he shook it from his desk.

"Pleasure to meet you, sonny," Stone said, standing up and wiping his mouth with a burgundy napkin, which also had the company logo on it. "It seems you've saved Devon Corp a huge amount of money."

"Really?" I asked. "All we did was rescue a suitcase."

"I know, but what was in the suitcase was priceless information, which Mr. Green failed to protect." He shot Green an accusatory glance, and the man simply looked down at his shoes in embarrassment.

"And," Stone went on, "for that, we shall reward you."

"What about Bella?" I asked. "She helped me."

"Mr. Green said that you did almost all of the work, and that she was just a bystander," Stone said, looking up at Green, who nervously shrugged.

"Bella knocked the guy out!" I exclaimed. "She did most of it. She should be the one to get rewarded."

"I see," Stone said, glaring at Green. "So you lied to me?"

Green nervously wringed his fingers. "Well, you see, I didn't actually see any of the conflict, so I assumed-"

"So you assumed that Mr. White here saved the day alone?" Stone asked. "Well," he said looking back to me. "You'll have to excuse Mr. Green for that. He's a bit of a chauvinist. Anyway, I guess we'll have to reward both you and this Bella."

He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out two objects that looked like smartphones. "These are the newest models of our Pokemon Navigators, or Pokenavs." Stone handed them to me. "They have maps, you can call friends, arrange rematches, the whole nine yards."

"Really?" I asked, slightly excited that I was getting such an expensive reward. "You're just giving us these devices?"

"What's in the briefcase is far more important," Stone replied, folding his arms. "Which brings me to the other reason that I brought you here." He gestured to the briefcase on the desk. "Can you do me a huge favor by taking this to Slateport Shipyards when you get there?"

"I guess," I said, pocketing the two Pokenavs. "But we're heading off to Dewford Town next, so it might be a while until we can deliver them."

"Yes, that's perfectly fine," Stone said, handing me the briefcase. "And, I hate to burden you with errands that I should do, but can you deliver this to Steven Stone while you're in Dewford? He should be in Granite Cave digging for gems and other stones." He held out an envelop to me.

Shrugging, I took it. "Yeah, shouldn't be a problem. Anything else?" I asked, slightly sarcastic.

Stone shook his head. "I hope I'm not burdening you with work," he said again. "Please, don't be afraid to speak up if you don't want to do it."

"Nah, it's fine," I told him. "Besides, going into Granite Cave will definitely help me train for the Gym there."

"All right then," Stone said, smiling and sitting down. "You're free to leave if you wish."

"Yeah, I need to meet up with my friends," I said, turning towards the door. "I'm probably late enough as it is."

Seven minutes later, I was back in the city, and I took off running to the woods where my friends would be waiting. My backpack bounced around as I ran, and I felt the cool breeze in my face. The sun was setting on the horizon, and the stars were beginning to twinkle in the sky.

It was a rather long run, and I was tired by the time the entrance to the forest came into view, along with the three figures waiting outside. When I got closer, I saw May leaning against a tree, while Brendan was battling against another trainer, who looked familiar. Bella had long since gotten over the sugar high, and was sitting on the ground playing with Sora.

"Sorry I'm late!" I ran up to them, drawing all their attention from whatever they were doing. "I got stopped by that little green dude and he took me to see his leader."

Blanks stares were abundant.

I reached into my pocket, and pulled out one of the fancy Pokenavs. "Here Bella," I said, handing it to her. "This is for your heroic actions in stopping that pirate guy in the woods."

"Oh really!" she squealed, taking the Pokenav. "This is awesome!" she exclaimed, testing out some of the features. "This thing's even got wifi!"

May looked somewhat jealous. Trust me, I know jealous.

_Not something to be proud of, bro, _Voi said.

"Do I get one?" May asked, slightly hopeful.

"Um...sorry but no," I answered curtly. "You and Brendan ran off then," I explained. "Bella and I rescued the suitcase."

"I kicked the pirate's ass the second time," the trainer facing against Brendan said. It was none other than Ashlyn. "Why didn't I get one?"

I shrugged. "I honestly wouldn't know."

Brendan shrugged. "Well, personally, smartphones can do more than those things," he said, holding up his own Iphone. "Can those Pokenavs make calls?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Can they go on the internet and get the latest news?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Do they have...Angry Birds?"

"I'm sure it can."

"...what about a flashlight?"

"Don't think so..."

"Aha!" he shouted. "I knew it. Cell phones are far superior to those Pokenavs!"

There was a rather awkward silence. "Okay then," Brendan said, returning his Treeko to his ball, and pointing to the woods. "Onward to Dewford!"

"We'd still need to rent a boat," May pointed out. "And it's late and their probably all taken by now."

"Oh, don't be that way," Bella said, jumping to her feet. "I'm sure we can get there."

Ashlyn nodded. "Mr. Briney's giving me free chartering after I saved his Wingull from that pirate. I'm sure you all can tag along."

That was helpful. "Thanks," Brendan said. "That's really helpful. Shall we continue on our way?"

"Let's shall."

And with that, we were on our way to Dewford Town.

* * *

"You know, I'm getting sick of watching him," the platinum man said, watching the group of teens through his binoculars as the entered the forest. "Why can't you take a turn?" he asked over the phone he held to his ear.

"I thought we went over this," the person replied. She herself sounded roughly in her teens. "You need to stay in there in case Darkrai makes his move. You'd be the only one that can actually take him on."

The man grumbled, and sighed. "Gee, you really got the better end of this deal. After all, I was a fucking Geodude for several weeks, forced to spy on him. That was not fun. Had to get all in character and all that. It was the worst thing in the whole world."

"I doubt that. Everyone's getting all upset at my humanity, thinking to be heresy. So, yeah, I might be burned at the stake before this is all over."

"Whatever," the man replied. "But, when this is all over, I call dibs on writing a thriller based off of this. It's going to be great."

"You don't know that. They all could die."

"Why don't we get that black Charizard that beat him to take out Darkrai? He's beaten him before," said the third party member. Mespirit floated alongside the platinum man, completely oblivious to the conversation on the phone.

"Seriously?" the man asked, staring at the Emotion Pokémon. "Did you really just ask that?"

"Uh...I think so."

"Were you not at the debriefing before we started spying on them?"

"I was, but I kinda fell asleep..."

The man sighed, and went back to talking to the girl over the phone. "I hate having to put up with this you. It's really pissing me off."

"Deal with it. I'm going to have to hang up now. Apparently, we might have the location of where Darkrai's keeping himself in hibernation out here," she said. "Wish us luck."

The man hung up on her, and peered through his binoculars to spy on the red haired teen. "Trevor, Trevor, Trevor," he muttered. "When I picked you, I never expected you to get this deep in this shit."


End file.
